Railways lost 48cr to delays: CAG

Indian Railways (IR) has paid a heavy price for not being punctual. The comptroller and auditor general (CAG) of India, has said IR has lost Rs48 crore in 2007-08 only because its trains have not been running on time. Moreover, the expenses shoot up if trains are delayed, due to extra fuel requirements.

According to a CAG report, 54.24% of the 568 trains surveyed were not punctual. Of a total of 1,45,886 runs, the trains were late on 79,122 occasions. They were late by over an hour on 30,487 occasions. And we are not talking only about Express or Mail trains, but also of Rajdhani and Shatabdi, which usually get preferential treatment when it comes to signalmen.

“The 37 Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains that were reviewed in 2007-08 reached their destination late on 53% of the occasions,” the report said.

The report blamed a series of operational factors like engineering delays, signal failure and loco failure, instead of external or untoward incidents, for the delay.

It recommended certain steps to improve train punctuality. There were delays at terminal points and intermediate stations. If IR would find the reason behind the delays at these junctures, it would be able to avoid the delay, the report said.

IR said it was in the process of the implementing the integrated coaching management system, which will help it keep track of trains.