CAG finds major goof ups in Indian Railways' train timings, distances

The blunders revealed by CAG were human errors, said railway official

Even before becoming a reality by 2022, the Indian Railways is apparently already running bullet trains in Uttar Pradesh. While Indian Railways accords a very high priority to the punctual running of trains, the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) has found major discrepancies in timings while auditing data entry of three trains -- Prayag Raj Express, Jaipur-Allahabad Express and New Delhi. The CAG has questioned the integrity of Indian Railways data, as incorrect entries were fed into IT-enabled Integrated Coaching Management System (ICMS), which helps in the online monitoring of punctuality of passenger carrying trains, reported the Times of India.

A recent CAG audit report of the Indian Railways reveals that an express train succeeded in travelling at 409 kmph to cover 116 kilometre (km) distance in 17 minutes between Fatehpur and Allahabad.

According to the Indian Railways, a train takes at least 53 minutes at a maximum speed of 130 kmph to cover the distance Allahabad Junction and Fatehpur. However, the CAG audit report discovered that, on July 9, 2016, Allahabad Duronto Express arrived at Fatehpur at 5:53 am and Allahabad at 6:10 am, which indicated that the train covered 166 km in 17 minutes at 409 kmph speed, said a TOI report.

The data entry of trains is also reflected in the National Train Enquiry System (NTES) and wrong timings of trains’ arrival at Allahabad station bothered passengers a lot. "The blunders revealed by CAG were human errors and precautions were taken to ensure no further discrepancies is there in data entry of timing", senior railway official was quoted as saying by the TOI.

On April 10, 2017, Jaipur Allahabad Express reached Fatehpur at 5:56 am and Allahabad at 5:31 am. The Punctuality Performance Table showed 36 minutes’ delay of the train in arrival at Allahabad. Similarly, on March 7, 2017, Prayag Raj Express reached Allahabad at 6:50 am but according to the data entry the train left Subedarganj, a station prior to Allahabad at 7:45 am. The CAG cites the possibility that similar incorrect data errors can be found in other railway zones as well, reported the TOI.
With inputs from The Times of India