Indian Railways' punctuality stands at 77.11 per cent in 2026-27 so far, up from 69.2 per cent in 2018-19 and close to the 77.43 per cent recorded in 2025-26, the Railways said on Wednesday, adding that performance has stayed above 77 per cent for three years despite heavy passenger demand. The improvement is being driven by improved monitoring, timetable rationalisation, better maintenance and infrastructure upgrades, ANI reported.

Source: ANI

The current figure is an improvement on the 73.62 per cent recorded in 2023-24, The News Trust reported in its account of the Railway Ministry's statement, which also credited enhanced monitoring, timetable rationalisation, better maintenance and infrastructure upgrades while keeping travel safe and comfortable.

Source: The News Trust

The Railways said punctuality figures circulating on social media are being used out of context and are therefore misleading, ANI reported. It said the unusually high punctuality figures of 2020-21 and 2021-22 were recorded when very few trains were running due to the pandemic, so the higher punctuality of that period is not an apt reference for comparison with full-capacity operations.

Source: ANI

Once normal operations resumed, punctuality returned closer to the long-term average and has been steadily improving again, the release said, as reported by ANI. The figures are the Railways' own reported punctuality data, as stated in its release; no independent audit figure was cited in the reports used here.

Sources: ANI, The News Trust.