The Railway took the decision during a meeting on Monday, as punctuality of local trains had taken a hit in April, May and June. (Representational image)To improve the punctuality of local trains during peak hours, the Central Railway (CR) has decided to hold back long-distance trains coming to Mumbai before Kalyan during peak hours — from 6 am to 10 am and 5 pm to 10 pm.
A senior CR official said that during peak hours, around 20 to 25 express trains enter the city. “Most of them are late due to delay at other railway zones. For example, trains coming from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and cities in the south. These trains, when they come to Central Railway Bombay division, which starts from Kalyan, clash with local train timings, which makes local services coming from Kasara and Karjat toward Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)… which affects punctuality,” said the official.
The Railway took the decision during a meeting on Monday, as punctuality of local trains had taken a hit in April, May and June. During peak hours, punctuality of local services was 88 per cent in April, 87 per cent in May and 90 per cent in June (till last Sunday). However, punctuality during non-peak hours is between 93 per cent and 95 per cent, said sources.
