Long-distance misery: Tardy trains take Central Railway to bottom rung of all-India punctuality performance rankings

Mumbai division placed in 55th spot out of 69 in all-India rankings for punctuality performance.

Long-haul trains run by the Central Railway’s Mumbai division have been stubbornly late in the past week, placing the network at the near-bottom of all-India punctuality performance rankings.

According to the list, released by the Railway Board, CR Mumbai is ranked 55th out of the total 69 divisions with a punctuality score of 72.23 per cent. Its sister network, Mumbai Central of the Western Railway, is several rung higher at number 6 with 95.15 per cent of its express trains running on time. CR’s Nagpur and Pune centres are also in the top 10. WR’s Bhavnagar division achieved 99.35 per cent punctuality, topping the rankings for the period August 13-20.

CR’s Mumbai division ferries passengers to and from several cities in Maharashtra, south and north India, and eastern parts of the country. A senior official said efforts had been made to improve the on-time record, but the fact is about onethird of its mail/express services were late during the said period, frustrating passengers.

According to train data obtained by Mirror, compared to 2017-18, the CR Mumbai division has suffered a 7-per cent drop in punctuality performance so far this fiscal. From 67.89 per cent, it has slipped to 60.49 per cent in the first four months of 2018-19.


Though rail authorities have plenty of time to catch up, they need to first admit there’s a real problem. CR’s chief public relations officer, Sunil Udasi, bafflingly claimed that passengers were not being inconvenienced. “The punctuality of a division is monitored for internal purposes of the railways. From the passenger’s point of view, end-to-end punctuality is important and it is above 90 per cent,” he said. He did not explain why then the division was ranked 55th in the Railway Board’s review.

But Udasi listed some “unique factors” causing delays. “There is consistent improvement in asset reliability in the Mumbai division. The loss of punctuality is mainly due to three level crossing gates at Diva, Kalwa and Ambivli in the suburban section. These gates are kept open for extended periods and road overbridges have not been constructed by the agencies concerned,” Udasi said. “The timings clash with suburban services also affects on-time record of long-distance trains. A number of infrastructure projects, such as footbridges and route relay interlocking, are underway in Mumbai region, so some trains are held in a planned manner. All this reflects on punctuality performance.”

Passengers were not impressed by his defence. “There is not much difference between the stations of WR and CR’s Mumbai divisions. Still, CR’s trains are often late,” said Ramachandra Pandey, who frequently travels between Mumbai and Varanasi. “When Narendra Modi won the Lok Sabha election from Varanasi, I thought performance of trains on the route would improve. But not much has changed,” he said.

WR officials, meanwhile, said they were aiming for a perfect ontime record. “With our dedicated team and regular infrastructure upgradation, we are striving to achieve 100 per cent punctuality,” said WR’s chief public relations officer, Ravinder Bhakar.