Railway Board orders enquiry in rivalry leading to train delays
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Zonal rivalries in Indian Railways are allegedly leading to delay train services
Inter-Zonal rivalry and ego clashes among officers that lead to the unscheduled halt of trains
New Delhi: Last week, the North Central Railway allegedly kept several express trains waiting for green signal at the outer circle of Palwal to dent on-time performance of rival zones. Zonal ‘rivalries’ in Indian Railways are allegedly leading to delay in services as various zones deliberately halt trains plying under other zones to record best on-time performance.
Adverse competitions among different railway zones in India to beat others on best on-time performance are leading to delay in services, those privy to the functioning of the world’s fourth longest rail network claimed. On Wednesday, 8th Nov. half a dozen express trains were kept waiting for green signal from 4.15pm to 5.30pm at the outer circle of Palwal, 85 kms from Delhi on Nizamuddin-Agra route.
Palwal’s outer circle is an interchanging point between two railway zones and divisions – Delhi division under Northern Railway (NR) and Agra division under North Central Railway (NCR). Sources in the railways told that the unscheduled halt of trains was due to a rivalry between the two zonal railways to maintain better-punctuality record. Anil Bharda, the secretary general of the All India Train Controllers’ Association, confirmed that NR’s Delhi division deliberately halted the trains under the NCR zone to dent its punctuality record.
Indian railways have 16 zones, which are again divided into 68 divisions. Bharda claimed that as per information he got from both zones it was at the behest of senior officials that a goods train was denied green signal just before Palwal that falls under Agra division in NCR. ‘It blocked the way of all other important trains coming on that route for one and a half hour,’ he added.
The trains that got delayed were the Samta Express, the Kolhapur-Nizamuddin Express, the Amritsar Golden Temple Express, the Sushasan Express, the Andhra Pradesh AC SF Express and the Tamil Nadu Sampark Kranti Express. Sources within the railways informed that such unscheduled halts are prevalent in other interchanging points of sixteen zones, delaying trains, especially the goods trains.
The divisional railway manager of Delhi Division didn’t respond to calls and messages to comment on Bharda’s claim. A senior railway spokesperson, however, attributed the cause of halt to dense fog, a claim trains drivers to rejected him. ‘There was no fog between 4pm and 5pm,’ said one of the drivers whose train was halted.
Sanjay Pandhi, working president of the Indian Railway Loco Running Staff Organisation, an association of train drivers, says that a train is never halted due to fog, even if it is dense. ‘Railway has instructions to keep the trains moving at slow speed in foggy condition. A train can run at a speed of 60km per hour even if there is dense fog.The NCR-NR rivalry is not an isolated instance.
In another instance, a goods train, SBLT special – running between Jhansi to Jodhpur – was halted for 11 hours on November 8 (from 10.15pm on Wednesday to 9am on the next day) at Utawar station near Alwar, because the North Western Railway (NWR) zone allegedly delayed entry of the train into its territory with the same motive.
The NCR does the same when its turn comes. Sometimes the rivalry is also triggered by ego clashes among senior officials. They go to any extent to satisfy their egos, causing inconvenience to thousands of passengers, says a senior official posted in the NCR zone on condition of anonymity.
According to Pandhi, 20% to 30% interchanging stations under some zones are afflicted by the problem. Bharda, however, thinks the issue is more serious. ‘Officers pressurise controllers to halt trains even if the track is clear.’
In 2002-03, former railway minister Nitish Kumar, on the political ground, increased the number of Zones from 9 to 16 and reason given to it that strengthen the railway operations and administrative control but it failed. Indian Railways runs 12,617 passengers trains carrying over 25 million passengers daily connecting more than 7,172 stations covering a route length of more than 64,460kms.
Railways have initiated various measures aimed at improving punctuality of trains and put in place the IT-enabled Integrated Coaching Management System (ICMS) for online monitoring of punctuality of passenger-carrying trains. But such initiatives are defeated by inter-zonal rivalry and ego clashes among officers that lead to the unscheduled halt of trains, Pandhi pointed out.
The Railway Board has asked senior officials of the two zones, Northern Railway (NR) and North Central Railway (NCR), to investigate and find out officers responsible for halting more than half a dozen trains on November 8 at the outer circle of Palwal Railway Station.
The minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal, viewed the incident as a serious one and asked for an urgent report, said a close source in the Railway Board. Railway sources had informed that NR’s Delhi division deliberately halted trains under the NCR zones to dent its punctuality record.
In another case, a goods train, the SBLT Special – running between Jhansi and Jodhpur – was halted for 11 hours on November 8 from 10.15 on Wednesday night to 9am on Thursday, at Utawar station near Alwar as NWR allegedly refused to enter the train in its zone due to a similar reason.
‘Interchange punctuality is a good initiative towards operational efficiency but the purpose seems partially defeated if ego or inter-zone competition become unhealthy and starts affecting overall efficiencies, like incidents in Palwal or Utawar,’ said Sanjay Pandhi, working president, Indian Railway Loco Running Staff Organisation.