Question : Punctuality of Trains

(a) the details of the steps taken by the railways to run trains at their scheduled time during the last five years;

(b) whether the steps taken by the Government have helped to operate trains on scheduled time;

(c) if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government is considering to provide facility of food, shelter etc. to the passengers in the event of trains getting more delayed than its scheduled time;

(e) if so, the details of the rules likely to be framed by the Government in this regard; and

(f) if not, the reasons therefor?

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (c) Indian Railways (IR) constantly endeavors to run trains punctually. However, trains on Indian Railways do lose punctuality due to factors related to internal factors (mainly attributable to equipment failures related to locomotives, Over Head Electrical cables, track, signal, mechanical etc, & saturated line capacity etc) as well as external factors (like electricity grid failures, public agitation, adverse weather conditions etc.) of which Railways are not in control.

In order to address the issue of punctuality, Railways has taken numerous steps including:
(i) Rigorous monitoring at Divisional, Zonal and Railway Board levels.
(ii) Standardization of rakes and provision of spare rakes to improve punctuality.
(iii) Removal of infrastructure bottlenecks in a planned manner.
(iv) Integrated Mega Blocks are planned in such a way that all asset maintenance departments can do their work simultaneously.
(v) End to end running of some trains with diesel locomotives to avoid detention on account of loco changing from diesel to electric.
(vi) Conversion of conventional rakes of Mail/Express trains (Integral Coach Factory rakes) into LHB (Linke Hofmann Busch) rakes.
(vii) Rationalization of Time Table in order to make a group of similar speed trains.
(viii) Curtailment of stoppage time at major terminals.
(ix) Fencing along the track in Allahabad division in the most cattle run over prone area.
(x) Commissioning of 1st phase of Dedicated Freight Corridor.
(xi) Allahabad –Mughalsarai 3rd line work sanctioned (153 Kms.)
(xii) High capacity water pumps at watering stations to minimize detention on this account.
(xiii) Provision of Bye-pass stations to avoid engine reversal etc.
(xiv) Also, for attaining accuracy in punctuality data, the timing of arrival and departures are prominently being captured automatically through data-loggers. The punctuality of Mail/ Express trains on Indian Railways during the current year has shown 70.57% (upto 25th June) as compared to 61.56 % for the corresponding period of last year.


(d) to (f) In case of late running of trains like Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto, where catering charges are the part of the ticket fare, if the journey time is extended by more than 2 hours of the scheduled time, late running services are provided to passenger depending upon the timing. For other Mail/Express trains, catering services are provided on payment basis through pantry cars attached with the trains. In case of trains running without pantry cars, catering services are provided through stalls at en-route stations, trains side vending and e-catering services. These services are continued to be provided during late running of trains also.
All minimum essential amenities including shelter, toilets, waiting hall, retiring rooms, drinking water, benches etc have already been provided at all stations as per norms. During late running of trains, such facilities are available for passengers affected by delay in trains.

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