Train delays due to mock drill creates flutter, railway zonal head given stern message

Train delays of around an hour in Rajasthan due to a mock drill has caused flutter in the Indian Railways with a senior official of the Railway Board issuing a stern message to the zonal head.

Four trains were delayed due to a mock drill on October 14 conducted in Ajmer division of the North Western Railway Zone. The express trains were delayed by 54 minutes on an average, according to an official letter.

"The mock drill conducted by Ajmer division on October 14 was poorly planned and had caused detention to the aforementioned important trains by an average 54 minutes, which was wholly avoidable," said the letter written by Member Traffic of Railway Board Purnendu S Mishra to zonal head Anand Prakash.

"Conducting mock drills are an integral part of our preparedness on accident/disaster relief, but such mock drills are done under controlled conditions and it is entirely possible to plan them without any adverse impact on punctuality and throughput," it said.

Earlier this month, in a meeting with general managers and divisional railway managers of zonal railways, railway minister Piyush Goyal had emphasised the need for maintaining punctuality.

He said that while punctuality of mail/express trains has improved to 74 per cent compared to 67 per cent last year in the period April-September 2019, punctuality of passenger trains has also improved. He, however said that performance of Central Railway, South Eastern Railway and South Western Railway needs to be improved.