Hyderabad: One in every three trains in the Secunderabad division of South Central Railways, including the famed Vande Bharat Express, have been running behind schedule in the last four months.
Balakrishna and Ramana Ashok, residents of Uppuguda in the Old City, experienced one such delay on Friday. They travelled on a special train from Tirupati to Hyderabad, which was supposed to arrive at 6 am but reached the Cherlapalli nearly three hours late. Private employees, they had chosen this train to make it to their 9 am jobs, but the delay forced them to apply leave for the day.
Businessman Raju Ojha, who frequently travels on the Darbhanga-Secunderabad Express, also had similar complaints. He said that the train was often late by three to five hours. He urged the authorities to ensure trains run according to schedule.
A railway expert noted that during the last quarter of the financial year — extending until March — freight trains are prioritised to meet targets, which can lead to delays for passenger services.
Passengers, especially those using the Secunderabad division, have raised concerns about late arrivals. The Secunderabad station handles about 180 trains per day, with a footfall of around 1.5 lakh, while the Nampally station sees between 20 and 30 trains, serving approximately 50,000 passengers daily.
Shiv Kumar, a railway analyst, explained that running more trains than the available tracks and platforms exacerbated the issue. Ongoing development at the Secunderabad station often forced trains to stop at a distance for a while.
Additionally, the third line work on the Balharshah-Vijayawada and pit line projects were further disrupting schedules. Kumar emphasised that doubling the single-track Guntur route, a key line, would help reduce these delays.
Responding to a query on the late running of trains, an SCR official pointed out that trains would be marked as delayed in the statistics even if they were late by three minutes.
He said the railways never compromised on safety, and the focus was on ensuring that all the required norms were met to operate the trains.
The official said that SCR had taken up various development and modernisation works, including the installation of a system called; automatic block signalling’, which was contributing to the slow movement of trains on certain sections.
When complete, the automatic block signalling equipment would enable the trains to run faster.
He said that line tripling work was being carried out on the Kazipet-Balharshah-Kondapalli route, which involved several technical aspects including installing overhead electric lines. Work was also going on at several spots to build under and overbridges.
Railway data show:
• 2024
• September: 28% late
• November: 35% late
• December: 38% late
• 2025
• Till Jan. 15: 33% late
