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Prabhu asks officials to ensure trains run on time

With a number of complaints being received over late running of trains, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has issued an advisory…

Prabhu asks officials to ensure trains run on time

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu (PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES)

With a number of complaints being received over late running of trains, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has issued an advisory to officials.

Zonal heads have been asked to deploy a senior-level officer in the night shift between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. immediately to monitor the situation and address the problems, if any, to prevent delay in train running.

 Prabhu has also taken note of discrepancies between train timings data available on national train enquiry system (NTES), the official website of Indian Railways, and actual train timings being experienced by passengers.

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In a letter to officials, he sought immediate corrective measures to sort out the problems. The punctuality rate has deteriorated further to 79 per cent during April 1-16 period, as compared to 84 per cent in the corresponding period last year, a decrease of 4 per cent.

Division-wise analysis of punctuality reveals that the performance of 11 divisions including Varanasi, Mumbai, Sambalpur, Danapur, Samastipur, Jhansi, Jabalpur leaves much to be desired, according to the letter written by the Railway Minister's office to all zonal heads. Prabhu has expressed concern regarding further deterioration by over 4 per cent in punctuality between 1-16 April and directed that close monitoring of these divisions should be done by senior officers in the 10 p.m. – 7 a.m. shift with immediate effect, the letter stated.

According to the instruction, besides monitoring overall performance, these officers should take immediate steps to minimise asset failure time and co-ordinate with divisional and control offices of neighbouring divisions to make up for delay, if any, in their own divisions.

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