Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 14: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Wednesday approved a productivity-linked bonus (PLB) equivalent to 78 days’ wages, amounting to Rs 2,009.61 crore, for 11,40,770 railway employees.
The maximum bonus payable to each eligible railway employee will be Rs 17,951 for 78 days, in recognition of the excellent performance of railway staff.
The bonus will benefit various categories of employees, including track maintainers, loco pilots, train managers (guards), station masters, supervisors, technicians, technician helpers, pointsmen, ministerial staff and other Group C employees.
According to the Cabinet, productivity-linked bonus payments are made annually to eligible railway employees before the Durga Puja and Dussehra holidays.
“This year also, PLB amount equivalent to 78 days' wages is being paid to about 11.40 lakh non-gazetted Railway employees. The payment of PLB acts as an incentive to motivate the railway employees for working towards improvement in the performance of the Railways,” the statement said.
During the financial year 2025-26, Indian Railways loaded a record 1,670 million tonnes of freight and carried nearly 7.41 billion passengers.
The national transporter recorded a 5.4 per cent year-on-year increase in freight loading in August 2026, with 137.9 million tonnes moved during the month compared with 130.9 million tonnes in August 2025. Freight revenue also rose by 6.27 per cent year-on-year.
The increase in freight movement is expected to strengthen rail-based supply chains and improve the transportation of essential commodities, raw materials and finished goods across the country.
Indian Railways also expanded its freight-handling infrastructure in August with the commissioning of five new Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals (GCTs). The terminals are located at Shivlakha in Gujarat, Nalli in Tamil Nadu, Shaktinagar in Uttar Pradesh, Deoragram in Madhya Pradesh and Brajrajnagar in Odisha.
With these additions, the cumulative number of commissioned Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals reached 149 as of August 31, 2026.
Passenger traffic also registered growth, with Indian Railways carrying 67.27 crore passengers in August 2026, compared with 64.43 crore in the corresponding month last year.