Railways found to fudge data on accidents, failures of key assets
Data on accident figures and failures of assets might not have been reported properly
1.5 lakh trains were found to be late in the last 11 months, as per data tabled in the Parliament
Zonal Railways should report failures truthfully and not worry about adverse comparisons with last year’s figures
GMs & DRMs should lay strong emphasis on correct reporting of asset failures, accidents, train punctuality and project the same in COA
CHENNAI: It is not only punctuality data that various Zones of Indian Railways have been a misrepresentation. A Railway Board order issued to General Managers of all Zones on Monday, 19th March 2018, indicates that even data on accident figures and failures of assets like locomotives might not have been reported properly.
The order issued by Vikas Arya, executive director (efficiency and research) in the Board, has stated that from 2018-19 Zonal Railways should report failures truthfully and ‘not worry about adverse comparisons with last year’s figures’.
“Unless an honest and realistic picture of the present state of affairs is generated, any kind of improvement will not be possible. General Managers and Divisional Railway Managers should lay strong emphasis on correct reporting of asset failures, accidents and train punctuality and project the same in Control Office Application (COA) and Integrated Coaching Management System (ICMS),” the order stated.
Railway Board on December 21, 2017, had issued an order which stated that the system of arrival and departure of trains linked to Control Office Application (COA), an electronic system, was being made inoperative at many stations. The timings were being fed manually, in effect ensuring that punctuality figures were being artificially boosted by the Zones. Only trains which are delayed by more than 15 minutes at the terminal station are considered late.
As reported earlier that 1.5 lakh trains were found to be late in the last 11 months, as per data tabled in the Parliament.
Zonal Railways are under pressure to report higher punctuality figures and lower asset failures and accidents. Every such incident has to be reported to the Railway Board, which often asks uncomfortable questions reflecting the adverse conditions on the ground, said a senior official. “To avoid the embarrassment, zones often under-report the data,” the official said.
Vikas Arya’s letter has stated that 2018-19 will now be treated as ‘zero years’ where no comparison of asset failures and punctuality will be done vis-a-vis last year to gauge the performance of the Zonal Railway.
“These parameters will not be taken into consideration with any kind of performance evaluation,” the letter stated.
The senior railway official said that proper reporting of the failures and accidents will pave way for systemic and infrastructure improvement. “As the performance of top officials was decided by these failures, it was boosted to never reflect the actual scenario. So the required improvements did not take place,” he said.
However, the official said that there needed to be the political will to accept the reduced punctuality figures. “This is a step in the right direction,” he said.
Courtesy: TOI