Railways levies Rs 11 crore as 'superfast' surcharge, but fails to meet the 'on-time' mark by 95%

In a CAG report laid down at the Parliament it was found that despite superfast surcharge, trains reach destination late by 95%. Rs 15 surcharge is levied for general coaches, Rs 30 for sleeper coaches, Rs 45 for chair car, AC-3 economy, AC-3, AC-2 classes and Rs 75 for AC First/Executive class. Railway officials owe the delay to mergency brakes, accidents, calamities, track issues, maintenance glitches and accidents.

In a report laid down in the Parliament by the CAG, The North Central Railway and the South Central Railway has levied and collected Rs 11.17 crore from passengers as 'superfast' surcharges. However, some of these superfast trains were delayed by 95%. Moreover, there are no refund policies in such cases. According to the Railway Board, trains with average speed of 55 kmph or more come under the category of superfast trains. 

A study on data comparing the punctuality of superfast trains from 2013-2014 to 2015-2016 in NCR and SCR revealed that such trains reach the destination late 13.48% and 95.17% of the operational days. In other words, 21 superfast trains were delayed on 3,000 days out of 16,804 days because they did not reach the 'superfast' speed. According to railway policy, the superfast surcharges vary according to the class. For instance, it is Rs 15 for general coaches, Rs 30 for sleeper coaches, Rs 45 for chair car, AC-3 economy, AC-3, AC-2 classes and Rs 75 for AC First/Executive class. These rates were effective from April 1, 2013. 

However, defending the delays is the Agra divisional commercial manager Sanchit Tyagi who owes it to emergency brakes, accidents, calamities, track issues, maintenance glitches and accidents. A study on the delay of superfast trains between 2013 and 2016, as published by a Times of India report, revealed, "Kolkata-Agra Cantt Superfast was late 138 days out of 145. Similarly, Jaipur-Allahabad SF was late 68.34% out of 578 days of operations between 2014 and 2016. Lucknow-Agra Cantt SF was late 58.99% out of 851 days, Chhatrapati Shivaji- Hyderabad SF was late on 682 days out of 1,055, Guntur-Secundrabad SF was late 41.33% out of 1,096 days. The least delayed train among 21 selected was Kathgodam-Kanpur SF, which reported 13.48% late out of 141 days."