Q: Recently various media and more so social media reported that trains have lost their way. They are taking days rather than hours to reach their destinations.

A: The passengers on Shramik Specials, primarily migrant labourers, not having much knowledge of train operations posted the videos claiming that the trains have lost their way and then these became viral. Practically, the trains never lose their way. The driver or loco pilot cannot divert a train or take it to the course of his liking. For a layman, a train doesn’t have steering. The controller at junction station sets the further course of a train after getting clearance from divisional control which in turn takes instructions from zonal control. Train operations are synchronized between various divisions and zones and are run smoothly in close coordination. Before lockdown, Indian Railways was daily running more than 13000 Passenger trains and more than 9000 good trains with the punctuality of around 90 per cent in passenger train operations. A system with the capability to undertake such mammoth operations doesn’t just lose its trains.