Spurt in rail stirs behind delays on Central Railway

Mumbai: After rail-rokos across Central Railway (CR), including the one that occurred Monday afternoon between Airoli and Thane, it has come to light that the number of services cancelled have increased 12 times from April to January 2016-17 as compared to the same period the year before.

For the first time, CR has seen such a spurt in the number of rail-rokos with as many as 139 services cancelled solely due to rail-rokos between April and January in 2016-17. In the corresponding period the year before, there were only 11 services cancelled due to public agitations, again in the form of rail-rokos.

Officials said cancellations, coupled with the number of services delayed, have been one of the reasons behind CR’s declining punctuality.

In terms of delays in the same period, 2015-16 saw 98 services delayed while 2016-17 saw 275 services delayed. An official said, “We are not saying that only rail-rokos have affected our punctuality. There are other factors such as level crossing gates, trespassing and inherited infrastructure issues. However, if you see the big picture, one cannot deny that rail-rokos have become a concern.”