Piyush Goyal warns zonal railway to 'stop fudging data' to show improved punctuality in services

New Delhi: Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal has warned zonal railways to stop data manipulation to show improvement in punctuality, indicating that punctuality figures provided by zones varied from passengers’ feedback. The national transporter had released figures that showed 76 percent trains were running on time, as compared to an average 60 percent all through. [caption id=“attachment_5310331” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Piyush Goyal. PTI[/caption] In a letter to the zonal heads, the Railway Board last week warned against such fudging of data. “Wrong feeding of arrival/departure of trains at terminals and interchange points continues to be adopted by zonal railways and divisions falsify records to improve punctuality.” “Feedback from general public through social media is continuously being received on daily basis. MR (Minister of Railways) has expressed his serious displeasure and directed that the practice must stop forthwith. Please ensure strict compliance to avoid any unpleasant situation,” it further said. Punctuality performance of mail/express trains during the period from 17 September to 23 September showed that the Ranchi division in the South Eastern Railway had achieved 100 per cent punctuality and 21 divisions had recorded punctuality of 90 percent and above during the period. This is a major improvement from the average 60 percent punctuality being maintained just two months back. In the new time table, the railways has set a target of achieving 95 percent punctuality.