Mumbai: Speed bars gone, WR hits near-100% punctuality – Times of India

Mumbai: Western Railway (WR) has said the punctuality of its trains has increased to almost 100% from 95% in 2019-20 after it removed permanent speed restrictions (PSRs) at various locations between Churchgate and Bhayander.
PSR is imposed primarily because of track geometry where there is a big curve and at crossovers, where trains change tracks. Speed restrictions at PSR spots ensure that there are no accidents, particularly because of derailments.
WR general manager Alok Kansal had drawn up a plan to remove obstacles to improve punctuality across the suburban section. “The removal of PSR is a great achievement as some of these were in place for almost 30 years. We now have a punctuality percentage of 99.3,” said WR’s chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur.
WR used to run 1,367 services, which increased to 1,373 from November 22 after the introduction of eight more air-conditioned services. The removal required a realigning of track geometry. This can only be done by a suspension of services, but Thakur said, “We took advantage of the lockdown when the number of services was less to undertake this challenging work.”
At Marine Lines, there was a PSR of 20 kmph, which meant that the train had to slow down from peak speed before entering the stretch. “Because of the removal of this PSR, we are able to save two minutes per train. It comes to almost 560 minutes per day. Similarly, we are saving 1.25 minutes per train, or almost 307 minutes per day, because of the removal of PSR between Bandra and Khar,” said Thakur.
Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative committee member Kailash Verma said, “Still, there are days when trains from Virar run late by 10 minutes during the morning peak hour as authorities give priority to long-distance trains that arrive late in Mumbai.”