After Badlapur protest, CR to get services on track

Currently, the punctuality of the CR suburban section is 83%, while it is 93% for long-distance trains.

Taking note of commuters’ outrage over repeated delays at Badlapur, the central railway (CR) now plans to reduce failures, which affect the overall train operations and lead to delay and cancellations. It also plans to bring down their restoration time in case of failure.

Akhil Agarwal, the newly appointed general manager of CR, said, “We are taking action to improve punctuality of trains by reducing failures of track, signalling, trains, electrical and engine. We also plan to train our staff at a nearby office, instead of taking them to a training institute, which is time-consuming.”

Currently, the punctuality of the CR suburban section is 83%, while it is 93% for long-distance trains. Agarwal said the punctuality of trains has improved to some extent in the past few days.

On August 12, passengers protested against the frequent train delays at Badlapur station, blocking the services for nearly six hours from 5.30 am to 11am. The trains traffic along the Ambernath-Karjat was brought to a complete standstill, causing huge inconvenience to the suburban passengers across the city.

Nearly 50 suburban services were partially or fully cancelled by the CR and almost all trains were running 15 to 20 minutes behind schedule during morning peak hours. Four long-distance trains were held up and two express trains were diverted.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in a message on Twitter had directed the general manager and divisional railway manager to Badlapur station to sort the problem. After the incident, Amitabh Ojha, divisional railway manager (DRM), Mumbai, CR, was abruptly transferred.