Parliamentary Committee finds faults in punctuality monitoring method of Railways
By Arun Kumar Das
New Delhi, Feb 5 (BVI): A Parliamentary committee has made critical observations regarding the punctuality-monitoring method of the Railways, saying the yardstick being adopted to know the actual train performance is “misleading and incomplete” which does not reflect the expectation of the people.
The method is a “narrow approach to punctuality monitoring” and it fails to account for the delays experienced enroute, said the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) in a recent report tabled in Parliament.
Titled “Punctuality and Travel Time in Train Operations in Indian Railways”, the report says the existing allowance of 15-minute delay within Indian Railways punctuality benchmark further dilutes the accuracy of performance assessment.
The PAC, headed by MP Jai Prakash, recommended review and revision of the time punctuality assessment through integrated monitoring at originating/intermediate stations alongside the existing termination station.
The PAC also asked the Railways to inform the committee about the steps taken in this direction.
The Committee has noted that Indian Railways have an integrated digital platform for monitoring of train operations comprising Integrated Coaching Management System (ICMS) and Control Office Application (COA) which are integrated with National Train Enquiry System (NTES).
Besides, progressive advancement for automatic uptake of timings by the train movement itself, is being achieved through GPS devices fitted locomotives {Real-Time Train Information System (RTIS) and Remote Monitoring and Management of Locomotives and Trains (REMMLOT) and Data loggers integrated with the station signaling system.
However, the manual data capturing is still persisting in certain zones.
The Committee, therefore, recommended that an integrated digital platform encompassing features of all the existing systems for real time monitoring systems should be developed and implemented.
The Committee has desired to be apprised of the steps taken in this regard and the status of success in its implementation.
The Committee has considered the superfast benchmark of 55 kmph too conservative and anachronous for the present time specially when some of the east Asian countries like China and Japan have been running their trains at speeds far beyond our speed benchmarks.
The Committee has recommended that Railway Ministry should review and rationalize the criteria for categorizing the super-fast trains in order to achieve the running speed of all superfast trains approximating to 100 kmph at the terminating point and explore the feasibility of achieving a consistent speed of 100 kmph not just at the terminating point, but throughout the entire journey—from the originating station, through intermediate stops, and up to the terminating point—by the year 2030.
The Committee has desired to be apprised of the concrete steps taken and planned interventions made till date to transform the superfast train network into a truly high-speed and efficient mode of transportation.
The Committee has asked the Ministry to focus on developing a dedicated freight corridor and recommended to complete the process of segregation of passenger and freight corridors in a time bound manner.
The Committee is of the view that the Ministry should explore the feasibility of laying extra lines for reasonable length in sections where land is available so as to facilitate stay/stoppages/halts of additional/standing trains in order to ensure uninterrupted movement of running trains. (BVI)
