The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has submitted a report. Which states that amidst little improvement in average speed, there has been an increase in the travel time of trains in the last few years and there has been a decrease in operating time of trains. The report said that Indian Railways has not been able to reach on time even after spending Rs 2.5 lakh crore on track infrastructure during 2008-19.
The report shows that the punctuality of Mail-Express trains decreased from 79 per cent (2012-13) to 69.23 per cent (2018-19) during short to high distance travel. The report was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday.
Stricter rules in other countries
Accordingly, Indian Railways has the most liberal criteria to measure punctuality as compared to other countries. Trains running late by up to 15 minutes are considered punctual, while the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and other countries have stricter rules.
Target of average speed up to 75 km in Mission Raftaar
Mission Raftaar was launched during the 2016-17 season to reduce the delay in trains. Under which an average speed of 50 kmph for mail and express and 75 kmph for goods trains has been targeted by 2022. However, the average speed of mail, express and goods trains during 2019-20 was 50.6 kmph and 23.6 kmph respectively. The report also said that 123 out of 478 superfast trains ran at an average speed of 55 kmph.
Expected to follow the new timetable 100% time
With the help of IIT Bombay, Railways has introduced a new zero-based time table. Regarding which the auditors said that the new timetable will be able to achieve the punctuality targets. With the new timetable, it is possible to achieve 100% punctuality on the New Delhi-Howrah route, which is the busiest route of the Railways.