India’s cars are catching the train

Indian car manufacturers are warming up to rail. In recent years, they have put 18 times more cars on trains than a decade ago. Rail’s share in the Indian automobile industry is growing ever bigger, the result of a sustained effort, say rail industry insiders.
Rail managed to capture a meagre 1.5% of all cars in India between 2013 and 2014. As of 2025, the picture looks very different. Nearly a quarter of all Indian automotive transports took place by rail in the past year: an 18-fold increase.

In raw numbers, that means that 1,25 million out of a total of 5,06 million cars were transported via rail. “Just in the last four years, the share of cars transported by trains has gone up from 14.7% to nearly 24.5%. We are hopeful of the trend continuing as automobile manufacturers find rail a more convenient, cost-effective and greener mode”, an Indian senior rail official told local media.

Trains are particularly successful on long distances. The rail sector has managed to cut the road’s share in half on distances over 600 kilometres, which ought to sound like a dream to the European rail freight industry, which struggles to attract goods from the road sector.

A question of capacity

Indian rail’s capacity to transport cars has grown explosively in the past couple of years. It is the result of a sustained effort, say industry insiders. Ten years ago, there were only 10 train formations for automotive transportation. By 2021, that number had grown to 29. Now, it stands at 170. That allowed for a total number of automotive rail trips of 7,578 between 2024 and 2025.

A second factor that has helped rail’s efforts to capture the automotive industry is a wagon improvement. India has taken into use wagons that can carry cars on two decks, doubling capacity.

Amid this success for rail, India now ranks second globally for automotive transport by rail. The US ranks first, with 7,5 million cars transported annually. Germany comes in third place, with 600,000 cars.