Central Rly starts drive to improve train punctuality

The Central Railway on Thursday began an exercise to improve the punctuality of suburban services on the central and harbour railway routes. If this initiative succeeds, at least 15 minutes of delay due to several reasons could be avoided.

The Central Railway on Thursday began an exercise to improve the punctuality of suburban services on the central and harbour railway routes. If this initiative succeeds, at least 15 minutes of delay due to several reasons could be avoided.

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For this, the railways have appointed a three-member committee to register and rectify the problems faced by motormen while operating the trains. The committee comprises senior officials from car shed, operating and signaling department.

Over 53 complaints were registered within an hour on the first day. “The officials reported about lack of signal visibility, smaller defects in the motormen cabins, bad condition of tracks, trespassers, and other issues that affect speed and punctuality,” said Hari Shankar Verma, additional divisional railway, Central Railway.

According to officials, the biggest cause for delay was trespassing, especially at Thane, Kurla, Diva, Kalwa, Govandi, and Mankhurd stations.

“We are forced to slow down the train for 2-3 minutes at each of these stations, which results in an overall delay of 15 minutes. This further effects other trains,” said a motorman. Motormen also complained about grimy lookout glasses that resulted in poor visibility. “We are not even able to view the Halt Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) mark written on the track due to the dirty glasses. We halt the train on judgment,” the motorman added.

Railway officials are confident that based on the findings they would be able to address the issue of punctuality.