CAG Report Flags Northern and East Central Railways as Biggest Contributors to Train Delays
CAG report flags Northern and East Central Railways as top contributors to train delays, exposing internal mismanagement and flawed punctuality benchmarks.
New Delhi: The punctuality system of Indian Railways has come under serious scrutiny following a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India (Report No. 22 of 2021). According to the report, Northern Railway and East Central Railway have emerged as the worst-performing zones in terms of train delays across the country. The report reveals that more than 60 percent of total train delays in Indian Railways are linked to just three zones—Northern Railway, North Central Railway, and East Central Railway—with Northern Railway and ECR playing the most significant roles.
Internal Mismanagement
The Ministry of Railways has often attributed train delays to external factors such as fog, rain, protests, alarm chain pulling, and law-and-order issues. However, the CAG report categorically rejects this argument. According to the report, during the period from 2017 to 2019, external factors accounted for only 12.89 percent of train delays, while nearly 66 percent of delays were caused by factors entirely within the control of railway administration.
The most prominent internal reasons include the non-availability of clear tracks, mismanagement of engineering works, and frequent rescheduling of trains.
The CAG has clearly stated that Northern Railway and East Central Railway have failed badly in controlling these factors.
Northern Railway: Epicenter of Delays
Northern Railway zone covers densely populated regions such as Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir. This zone has emerged as the largest hub of train delays. According to the CAG, engineering works accounted for 27.56 percent of train delays in this zone, while rescheduling of trains between different railway zones contributed 14.94 percent. Taken together, these two factors alone were responsible for 42.5 percent of all delays.
The report also points out that engineering blocks often extend beyond their scheduled duration, forcing trains to be halted en route. This has a direct and adverse impact on passengers.
East Central Railway: Capacity Constraints and Bottlenecks
The East Central Railway zone, which covers large parts of Bihar and Jharkhand, is no less problematic when it comes to delays. The CAG report states that in ECR, “out of path” situations—meaning non-availability of clear tracks for trains—accounted for 17.57 percent of delays, while engineering-related reasons contributed 14.91 percent. Together, these two causes alone resulted in 32.48 percent of train delays.
Major junctions such as Patna, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction, Gaya, and Dhanbad are handling traffic far beyond their capacity. Inadequate yard facilities and the time taken for crew changes are severely affecting train operations.
Hours of Delay, Loss of Crores of Minutes
CAG data show that during 2017–18 and 2018–19, mail and express trains of Indian Railways suffered a cumulative delay of 66.5 million minutes. Of this, 41.9 million minutes of delay occurred only in the Northern, North Central, and East Central Railway zones. This indicates that a handful of zones are disrupting the punctuality of the entire railway network.
The direct impact of train delays is reflected in growing passenger dissatisfaction. According to the CAG report, 9,112 complaints related to train delays were registered in 2015–16. By 2018–19, this number had surged to 40,077—an increase of 340 percent.
Flawed Benchmark for Measuring Punctuality
The CAG has also questioned the very benchmark used by Indian Railways to measure punctuality. In India, a train is considered “on time” even if it arrives up to 15 minutes late, whereas in countries like Japan, delays are measured in seconds. Despite such relaxed standards, the punctuality rate of mail and express trains declined from 79 percent in 2012–13 to 69.23 percent in 2018–19.
Railway Ministry’s Defense, CAG Disagrees
The Ministry of Railways argues that the number of trains has increased by nearly 20 percent in recent years, putting additional pressure on the network. The ministry also claims that monitoring mechanisms and corrective measures are being continuously implemented.
However, the CAG report firmly states that when external factors are responsible for only 12.89 percent of delays, the real problem lies in failures of management and planning.