This is in violation of the codal provisions and in absence of any input from the zones, Railway Board kept on changing requirement of wagons. “Available Wagon holding was more than the wagon requirement, as assessed in audit on the basis of Wagon Utilization norm (NTKM), throughout the review period. Supply of wagons by wagon manufacturers was not commensurate with allotment of wagons made by the Railway Board and there were huge delays in supply,” the CAG said.
The outcome of this mismatch was that rakes were cancelled by parties due to non-supply by Railway Administration resulting in loss of potential earnings. “There were instances of detention of rakes in the selected loading and unloading points/terminal yards which resulted in loss of wagon days and their earning capacity,” the CAG found.
In around 69% wagons abnormal delay was noted in connecting the unconnected wagons resulting in loss of earning capacity of wagons for the time taken for connecting those wagons.
CAG also said that more than 3.30 lakh wagons, that constitute 41% of total, were passed without Neutral Control Office (NCO) approval after being repaired at workshops and terminal yards, compromising safety. The NCO conducts an independent examination of repaired wagons or those that go undergo periodic overhauls before their actual handing over to open line for operations.
According to CAG, analysis of railway data from 2016-17 to 2020-21 revealed that halt time was close to half of the total travel time and hence the average speed was also close to half of the average speed without halt time.
