Indian Railways' punctuality falls from 90% to 73.62%: Parliament panel

Parliamentary committee raised concerns over the Railways' method of measuring delays, stating that a 15-minute buffer allowance dilutes the accuracy of performance assessment

Train punctuality on Indian Railways declined to 78.67 per cent in 2024–25 (up to August) from 90.48 per cent in 2021–22, according to a report by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC). 

The panel flagged a longer-term slide in on-time performance and raised concerns about how punctuality is measured. The report titled 'Punctuality and Travel Time in Train Operations in Indian Railways' was presented in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. 

The committee noted that punctuality stood at 77.51 per cent in 2015–16 and fell to 69.23 per cent in 2018–19, before rising sharply to 90.48 per cent during 2021–22. Performance then dropped again to 73.62 per cent in 2023–24, followed by a partial recovery to 78.67 per cent in 2024–25.

 

Data flaws

The committee raised questions about the reliability of the data, noting that Indian Railways measures punctuality only at terminating stations. 

“Whereas, in other countries, it is measured at the originating point, intermediate station, and at terminating stations,” the report said. 

It also pointed out that Indian Railways allows a delay of up to 15 minutes against the scheduled time while assessing punctuality. “The committee are of the view that this narrow approach to punctuality monitoring fails to account for delays experienced en route, leading to an incomplete and often misleading picture of actual train performance,” it observed. 

“The existing allowance of a 15-minute delay within Indian Railways' punctuality benchmark further dilutes the accuracy of performance assessment,” the committee added. 

The panel recommended that punctuality be tracked at originating and intermediate stations as well, using an integrated monitoring system.

Did Indian Railways meet its speed targets?

The report noted that Indian Railways launched Mission Raftaar in 2016–17, with the aim of doubling the average speed of freight trains from 25 kmph to 50 kmph and increasing the average speed of Mail and Express trains from 50 kmph to 75 kmph by the end of 2021–22. 

However, the average speed of freight trains declined to 23.6 kmph, while Mail and Express trains recorded only a marginal increase to 50.6 kmph. 

The committee said that although the Centre has taken several steps to improve train speeds, the absence of an integrated approach across zonal railways has hindered progress. 

“Therefore, the committee recommends the Ministry to prepare a plan encompassing zonal Railways to achieve the desired increase in the average and maximum speed of passenger and freight trains in their network and strive to achieve it without compromising safety,” the report stated.

Are most train delays within Railways’ control?

The committee said many delays are attributable to factors within the control of Indian Railways. 

Citing data from the Integrated Coaching Management System, which tracks incidents causing operational delays, the report said that of 33 factors responsible for punctuality loss, 27 are controllable by the Railways, while six are external. 

It added that external factors accounted for 12.89 per cent of delays during 2017–19, while internal factors contributed about 66 per cent. 

“These internal factors could have been controlled well by Indian Railways, but were not addressed adequately,” the committee said.