Indian Railway sets target of achieving 90 per cent punctuality by November 1 

NEW DELHI: The railways has set a target of achieving at least 90 per cent punctuality of trains by November 1, with minister Piyush Goyal making it clear that no laxity will be tolerated by the zones in achieving the goal, senior officials said today.

Besides setting the punctuality target, the railway minister, in a review meeting with some railway zones earlier this week, has also set a deadline of December 1 for resolving all catering issues and October 2 for achieving the cleanliness target in trains and stations.

The punctuality of trains slipped to around 65 per cent in the past three months.

"In the meeting, the minister made it clear that no laxity will be tolerated by the zones in achieving the punctuality target. He also said that reasonable cleanliness should be seen on station premises by October 2.

"The zones said that addressing catering issues would take time as base kitchens need to be set up, so they have been given a longer time," a railway official said.

Goyal who has reviewed 11 railway zones and via video conferencing, interacted with young officers who have completed around five to six years of service asked them to suggest modern ways to run the national transporter.

By next week, the minister is expected to finish his review of all the 17 zones, after which he will meet the zonal General Managers.

"The railway network is such that the lines criss-cross across zones. Each zone has to work in tandem with another so that they maintain the standards. If a train gets delayed in one zone, automatically trains in the next zone will be affected," an official said.

The minister also assured all the zonal officials that there is no dearth of funds for safety and maintenance work.