Explained: The key to make Indian Railways trains run on time

Did you know that in Japan if a train arrives before scheduled time it is seen as a punctuality loss? In fact, Japan measures its train punctuality in seconds. On the other hand, Indian Railways trains are generally perceived to be late – a sad reality which has not changed for several years now!
Since 2015, there has been a significant increase in capital investment – from Rs 12,895 crore in 2008-09 to Rs 33,931 crore in 2015-16 on new lines, gauge conversion, doubling, electrification & track renewal. Experts are also of the view that railways is spending much more on infrastructure upgradation & augmentation in the last few years.
However, in a recent compliance audit report by CAG, it has been noted that despite significant investments of Rs 2.5 lakh crore during 2008-19, there hasn’t been a notable improvement in the punctuality of trains. The audit has found a meagre 0.18% improvement in punctuality and 0.61% in the average speed of Express trains. The punctuality of Mail/Express trains has declined from 79% in 2012-13 to 69.23% in 2018-19!