The average speed of passenger trains has increased slightly, but the average speed of freight trains has remained the same as the pre-Covid time of 2019-20, according to government data which Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw shared the data on Friday in Rajya Sabha in a written reply to questions raised by CPI (M) MP V Sivadasan on the average speed of different types of passenger and freight trains in the last five years.
The data showed that the average speed of freight trains was 23.6 km/hour in 2019-20 and 2023-24 (till November), while the average speed of mail/express trains increased from 50.6 kmph in 2019-20 to 51.1 kmph in 2023-24 (till November). The average speed of ordinary trains also improved from 33.5 kmph in 2019-20 to 35.1 kmph in 2023-24.
