Train Delay Index remains still high at 35 mins
India- July 16, 2016- Based on a comprehensive analysis done over the last 6 months across more than 2500 important train stations in India, RailYatri.in reports that the nationwide Train Delay Average has fallen by nearly 30% since the start of the year 2016. However, the same analysis also reveals that the average National Train Delay Index still remains high at 35.03 mins at the end of June 2016.
This study, considered more than one million train running status data points each month, as reported by train travelers who were boarding trains at various stations across the country. RailYatri’s definition of Train Delay Index is based on the amount of time a traveler has to wait at a station for the arrival of the train beyond its scheduled arrival time.
It is important to point out here that the worldwide operating definition of Train Delay Index across the world, including Indian Railways, only considers the delay at its final terminating station. This means that if a train manages to reach its terminating station on time, despite being late at all other intermediate stoppages, the entire run is considered on-time. This explains why trains are given extra buffer time, either just before or close to their last stoppage, so as to help them complete an on-time run. However, the RailYatri.in study has considered delays at all intermediate stoppages where passengers board the train. “We believe that considering delays at all the stoppages is a more realistic measure and reflects the train traveler’s view about the delay on their train journey”, explains Kapil Raizada, Co-founder RailYatri.in.
“Kudos to the new ministry for putting the spotlight on the perennial train delays which travelers in India have always complained about! The improvement is significant and it seems like the efforts are showing. However, it is a continuous improvement cycle and we are sure that Indian Railways would continue to control and bring the delays to an even more respectable level. Our study has highlighted areas which are chronic under-performers, and we suggest a bottoms-up approach which focuses specifically where severity of the problem is highest.” says Manish Rathi, CEO & Co-founder RailYatri.in.
Some additional highlights of the report –
A. Top 5 States where average train delays are least (as of June 2016)
· Gujarat (14 mins)
· Tamil Nadu (19 mins)
· West Bengal (23 mins)
· Jharkhand (24 mins)
· Karnataka (26 mins)
B.Top 5 States where average train delays are maximum (as of June 2016)
· Bihar (61 mins)
· Uttar Pradesh (55 mins)
· Punjab (50 mins)
· Goa (50 mins)
· Telangana (38 mins)
C.Give the officials a pat for showing significant improvement over 6 months
· Karnataka (56% reduction)
· Haryana (52% reduction)
· Delhi (45% reduction)
· Punjab (38% reduction)
· Uttar Pradesh (36% reduction)
D. Course correction needed – delays are increasing in these states
· Tamil Nadu (12% increase)
· Chhattisgarh (7% increase)
· Orissa (5% increase)
· Kerala (1% increase)
RailYatri - a crowd-sourcing driven mobile app is available on all the platforms (Android, iPhone and Windows) and allows users to track and share their train location. Nearly 3 Million train travelers use RailYatri application on a monthly basis. RailYatri’s team of seasoned data scientists track and analyze real-time information associated with passenger and train movements, thereby helping the company in predicting more accurate trends.
[Author’s Note: A detailed month-wise breakdown of train delay data across states and popular cities is available on request.]
About RailYatri.in:
The brainchild of seasoned experts from IITs and IIM – Kapil Raizada, Sachin Saxena; and Manish Rathi with over 20 years of engineering experience – RailYatri is changing the ecosystem of train travel in India. The intelligent travel provides the most comprehensive information on trains, passenger amenities at stations, platform information, speed of the train, personalized alerts, and much more via the mobile apps, mobile web and SMS.