Railways to have pressurised water filling mechanism
Railways is investing ₹500 crore for pressurised water filling system across a network of about 8,500 stations to improve punctuality. This will be the first time that Indian Railway is overhauling the way it fills water in trains.
According to an official familiar with the matter, during the review of punctuality, apart from maintenance and infrastructure issues, the time taken to fill water in running trains was also discussed. It was found that it takes at least 30 minutes to refill trains, since pipelines are old and water could not be filled properly due to lack of pressure. It also leads to shortage of water in many trains.
“The pressurised water system will quickly fill the water and the train can continue its journey after a brief halt. We have taken up umbrella work for the entire network of stations for the pressurised water filling system and at one go, we will finish the work. Apart from this, pipelines will also be cleaned and replaced to ensure smooth flow of water,” said Rajesh Aggarwal, member (rolling stock) of railway board.
Almost 30% of trains ran late in financial year 2017-18, the railways’ worst performance in three years. Board chairman Ashwani Lohani said that punctuality numbers will dip further as the railways has started organised data logging since Dec 2017.
In September, punctuality was over 70% and railways aims to improve it further in the coming days. “We have gone into minute details for the reasons which delay trains. Be it water filling or increasing speed of trains by using twin engines, we are experimenting with various things to ensure that trains run on time,” said a railway official.
From April 2017 to March 2018, the punctuality of mail and express trains was 71.39%, down from 76.69% in the corresponding period of 2016-2017. The Indian Railways is undergoing a phase of upgrades and renewal of tracks. Data shows that the number of train accidents fell to two-digit figures for the first time in 35 years in the previous fiscal.
NEW DELHI: