Lok Sabha Question No. 48 (STARRED), answered on 2017-07-19
Subject: Delay of Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.48 TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.07.2017

## DELAY OF TRAINS

†*48. DR. RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY:

Will the Minister of  RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether  all  the  Jharkhand  bound  trains  often  reach  their  destinations late;

(b) if so, whether the Government has identified the reasons for the same;

(c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(d) the  details  of  the  corrective  measures  taken/likely  to  be  taken  by  the Government in this regard?

ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS SHRI SURESH PRABHAKAR PRABHU

( )

(a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF  STARRED QUESTION NO. 48 BY  DR. RAVINDRA KUMAR RAY TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 19.07.2017 REGARDING DELAY OF TRAINS

(a) to  (c)  Focussed  attention,  daily,  is  given  by  the  Indian  Railways  at  the station, Division, Zonal headquarter and Railway Board levels in ensuring the Punctuality of all passenger carrying trains, in general, and East bound trains including Jharkhand, in particular through intensive monitoring and close coordination with different departments.

While most of the trains reach their destinations on time in Jharkhand, some trains, at times, get delayed due to causes, some of which are in the control of Railways, such as,

- (1) asset  failures  related  to  locomotives,  over  head  equipment,  track failures, signal failures, carriage and wagon failures etc.,
- (2) saturated line capacity  due to heavy volumes of freight and passenger traffic leading to route congestion,

(3) blocks to be given  for  maintenance of fixed assets  - tracks, signals, overhead equipment and for increasing line and terminal capacity, replacement  of  level  crossings  by  limited  height  subways  and  reasons beyond the  control of the Railways, such as security related law and order problems - observance of Bandhs and security threats in Left Wing Extremist areas  involving  sections    on  East  Central  Railway  such  as    GomohPradhankunta, Mugalsarai-Manpur, Mokameh-Jhajha,  Muzaffarpur-Barauni, Muzaffarpur-Narkatiaganj, Raxaul-Sitamarhi-Darbhanga, MuzaffarpurSitamarhi  &  on  South  Eastern  Railway  such  as    Chakradharpur-Rourkela, Midnapore-Adra,  Muri-Ranchi,  Chandil-Muri  and  Muri-Barkakana,    through which Jharkhand bound trains traverse which require reduction of speeds for maintaining the safety of operations  - natural calamities, public agitations, electricity  grid  failures,  bad  weather,  cattle  run  over  cases,  heavy  road traffic at level crossing gates etc.

For the period of April-June 2017, out of approximately 57 mail-express trains that terminate  at 9 major  terminals  (Dhanbad,  Ranchi,  Hatia,

Tatanagar,  Muri,  Sahibganj,  Garhwa  Road,  Chakradharpur  and  Dumka)  in Jharkhand daily, 14% trains lose punctuality due to asset failures, 11% due to  maintenance  blocks  given  for  infrastructure  capacity  augmentation  and regular maintenance works, 11% for external factors beyond Railway control and 52% due to various capacity constraints mentioned above. (d) To  improve  the  mobility  and  punctuality  of  East  bound  passenger carrying trains including Jharkhand on the saturated Mughalsarai-AllahabadGhaziabad  route  having  line  capacity  utilization  of  about  150%,  Indian Railways,  inter  alia,  have  initiated  various  long  and  short  term  measures. These include provision of automatic signaling from Aligarh to Ghaziabad on 3 rd   line,  extension  of  platforms,  commissioning  of  longer  loop  lines  at  10 stations,  raising  of  speed  to  160  kmph  on  New  Delhi-Howrah route costing approximately ₹ 6900  crores  in  addition  to  the  construction  of  double-line dedicated freight corridor (DFC) between Mughalsarai-Allahabad-Khurja which  will  remove  the  bottlenecks  and  ease  line  capacity  on  the  eastern corridor. Further, Railways have initiated various measures such as replacement of  conventional  coaches  by  LHB  (Linke  Hofmann  Busch)  coaches  having higher speeds, replacement of conventional passenger trains by MEMU (Main Line  Electrical  Multiple  Unit)  trains,  automatic  signaling  between  AligarhGhaziabad 3 rd  line, Bi-directional automatic signaling on middle line between Aligarh-Ghaziabad, Commissioning of new Platform-11 at Allahabad, extension of loop lines between Aligarh-Mugalsarai, extension of 4 Platforms at Shikohabad etc. Besides, to give impetus to punctual running, Railways takes periodic measures  to      launch  Punctuality  drives,  sensitise    staff  involved  in  train operations,  improve  asset  reliability  by  taking  pre-emptive  maintenance, rectify  asset  failures  in  the  shortest  possible  time  and  have  better  coordination with State Governments and Civil authorities to deal with law &

order problems effectively.

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