Nagpur: Railway minister Piyush Goyal’s warning to officials on punctuality of trains seems to have gone unheeded as there is no relief to passengers from regular delays.

On June 3, Goyal had warned that any delays and deviation from the schedule will cost officials their promotions. Contrary to this, in Nagpur division of Central Railway alone, on an average 77% trains lacked punctuality and arrived late, if data of the last two months is considered.

According to information sought under the RTI Act by social worker Abhay Kolarkar, on an average 96 trains arrive daily at Nagpur railway station.

In June, 2,826 mail/express trains reached Nagpur, of which 2,330 (83%) arrived late. Similarly in July, of the 3,056 trains that arrived, 2,193 (72%) arrived late. “The total percentage of trains delayed comes to a dismal 77 and the claims by the railways that its punctuality is 95% is flawed,” said Kolarkar.

Another information under the RTI Act by Manish Bhadang, Gondia, on 12833 Ahmedabad-Gondia Express states that in June, the train arrived late between 30 minutes and 8 hours for almost 20 days.

“There was a diplomatic answer by the railways saying that the train was delayed as it was handed over late at Badnera by the adjoining Bhusawal division under Central Railway,” said Bhadang.

To a query by Bhadang whether food or water was served to the passengers in case of delay by 8 hours, the railway said there is no such policy in material form.

On the contrary, railway spokesperson & ACM SG Rao said, “Agreed that punctuality has taken a hit, but it is mainly due to blocks for maintenance works which have increased as compared to the last few years. Even if the trains are delayed, the positive side is that safety has increased and there was no consequential mishap in the division in the last one year.”

“It is true that punctuality has gone from bad to worse across Central Railway. The railway minister had given a month to improve but it seems no one listens to even the minister now. In 2017-18 fiscal, over 30% trains lacked punctuality across Indian Railways,” said Basant Shukla, member, zonal railways users consultative committee (ZRUCC).

“If the railways claim 90-95% punctuality, then it is a big joke. Railway infrastructure has gone old and owing to blocks to maintain it, trains are running late. But the divisions are not sticking to prescribed time of blocks causing more problems,” said Brij Bhushan Shukla, secretary of Rail Yatri Sangh.

