Lok Sabha Question No. 4396 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-29
Subject: Punctuality of Trains
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: B.V. NAYAK

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.4396 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.03.2017

## PUNCTUALITY OF TRAINS

4396. SHRI B.V. NAIK:

Will the Minister of  RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has taken note of the fact that punctuality of trains  has  deteriorated and has come down to a great extent during the last three years;

(b)  if  so,  the  measures  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  improve  the deteriorating punctuality of trains; and

(c)  whether  any  monitoring  system  is  presently  being  used  to  monitor train movement to track and prevent delays and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

( SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN )

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

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4396 BY  SHRI B.V. NAIK TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 29.03.2017 REGARDING PUNCTUALITY OF TRAINS.

(a) & (b) No, Madam.  The  Punctuality  performance of Mail/Express trains over  Indian  Railways  on  Right  Time  Terminating  basis  during  the  last  3 years has not deteriorated to a great extent but has marginally come down due  to  the  factors  related  to  its  internal  working  as  well  as  external factors  of  which  Railways  are  not  in  control.    Other  than  asset  failures, various  constraints/difficulties  which  adversely  affect  punctuality  are numerous  such  as  -  line  capacity  constraints  on  account  of  increasing passenger  and  freight  traffic,  adverse  weather  conditions  (fog,  rains, breaches), intermittent natural calamities such as floods, cyclones, heavy rains, multi faceted  Law & order problems, miscreant activities such as theft  of  Railway  assets,  mid-section  run  over  cases  involving  cattle  and humans etc.  As  mentioned below the average number of trains being run per day has been increasing regularly taking into account the passenger requirements with the same infrastructure being available thus leading to congestion.

However,  the  punctuality  performance  of  Mail/Express  trains  over Indian  Railways  during  the  current  financial  year  (Up  to  February)  has remained at par with the corresponding period of the previous year:

| Financial Year      |   Trains (Avg.) per day | run Punctuality Performance   |
|---------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------------|
| 2014-15             |                    1571 | 79 %                          |
| 2015-16(April-Feb)  |                    1605 | 77 %                          |
| 2016-17 (April-Feb) |                    1629 | 77 %                          |

Indian Railways has initiated various measures to improve punctuality such  as  prioritization  of  preventive  maintenance  of  assets  to  minimize asset failures, capacity enhancement  projects by construction of additional  loop  lines  at  stations,  doubling,  construction  of  third  line corridors,  automatic  signaling,  construction  of  low  height  subway  to replace level crossings, Rail under Bridges and Rail Over Bridges, etc.  In addition,  zonal  Railways  have  also  been  advised  to  have  better  coordination with Civil and Police authorities of States to deal with situations arising out of law and order problems.

(c)    Presently,  movement  of  both  mail/express  and  passenger  trains  is being  monitored online at divisional level, zonal level and Railway Board level through Punctuality Analysis and Monitoring Module (PAM)  which is a part of ICMS (Integrated Coaching Management System).

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