Why do our trains run late?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is proceeding with grandiose plans for his bullet train project while about 12,000 trains, run by Indian Railways every day, seldom run on time. With the introduction of more trains for the festival season, Indian Railways is experiencing more problems in managing the schedule.

However, in a bid to cut down on travel time of several long-distance trains by up to three hours, the Indian Railways has announced a new timetable which came into effect from November 1. Even after changing the timings, several long-route trains are majorly affected. Trains are still running late by as much as 12 hours.

When NH contacted Chief Public Relation Officers (CPRO) of Northern Railway to enquire about the same, he initially denied that trains are getting late by 12 hours. Later, he accepted it when a personal experience was shared. He said trains were getting late because tracks were overburdened by too many trains.

“Trains are getting late because of ongoing track maintenance and construction work, and our priority is passenger’s safety. One of the reason is lack of routes as the number of trains is more than the number of routes. As track renewal is an ongoing process, speed restrictions are imposed to ensure safe running,” said Neeraj Sharma, CPRO, Northern Railway.

According to Indian Railways, Lifeline of the Nation, a February 2015 white paper, as much as 40% of Indian Railways’ 1,219-line sections are utilised beyond 100%. Technically, a section using more than 90% of its capacity is considered saturated.

The congestion rate is even higher: It is 65% on 247 high density line sections of the Indian Railways network. “The optimal utilisation should be about 80%,” said Mukut Mithi, member of the Standing Committee on Railways and a Rajya Sabha member, reported The Scroll.

The route of Eastern Railway is the worst affected, the delayed arrivals/departures and cancellations of trains are leading to severe inconvenience for the passengers. Lack of punctuality, lack of cleanliness in the trains and on the tracks, speaks volumes of the present condition of trains.

“I was travelling from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi in Nandankanan Express for a job interview. The train was running on time until I realised that it was running late by some two hours. I was still sure to reach Delhi by evening with only a few hours’ delay. The train arrived at the destination ten hours after the scheduled time. The train reached New Delhi station at midnight. It was also not safe for me to travel to my destination as I was travelling alone. My journey became more pathetic with poor quality food, unhygienic toilets and rats running around in coaches,” said Sanghamitra.

“I boarded Bramhputra mail on Thursday around 8:30 pm from Patna railway station, which was scheduled to arrive at 2:20 pm. I reached my destination late by almost 12 hrs,” said Vinita.

At present when the overburdened Railways lack sufficient number of tracks, basic comforts for passengers and even security, how can just a single bullet train sort out the woes of the passengers? One is left wondering after a long and delayed journey by a train run by Indian Railways.