On the Record: Is ‘India’s Fastest’ Gatiman Express on Schedule?

According to data for journeys made between 2016-2017, the train is more likely to arrive late than before time.

The Gatimaan Express, which plies between Agra and Delhi, has had more instances of arriving late than before time, according to data from its inaugural year.

Flagged off by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu on 5 April, 2016, the train is supposedly India's fastest. It is meant to cover a distance of 188 km in 1 hour and 40 minutes, travelling at a speed of 160 km/hr with no halts.

Also Read: The Gatimaan Express: Pulling a Fast One on Indian Passengers?

The trains travels between two cities for 6 days a week, which translates into 314 days and 628 trips in a year.

According to data for journeys made between 2016 and 2017, the train was late for every three in ten trips during its first year of service. The data was obtained via an RTI application to the northern and north-central railway zones, reported the Hindustan Times.

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No Clear Reason for Delays

According to sources in the Railways department, quoted buy the Hindustan Times, the delays mostly occurred due to maintenance of Train Protection Warning Devices (TPWD), and foggy weather.

The TPWD is fitted on tracks and receives information from red signals to automatically reduce the speed of the trains, and sometimes applying the train's emergency brakes as well.

However, due to lack of maintenance, TPWDs often read the signals incorrectly and interfere with train speed – causing delays.

Railway official to HT

However, spokesperson of the railways’ Agra division, Sanchit Tyagi, denied TWPD snags as the reason for delays. Pointing at signal failure and instances of cattle being run over, he blamed the protection wall along the track as a primary reason.

Meanwhile, officials at the Nizamuddin station opined that delay in platform allotment and speed were most often the reason for the delays.

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