The average speed of the train did not increase even after spending 2.5 lakh crores CAG revealed Despite the national government spending Rs 2.5 lakh crore on railway track infrastructure over a decade, the average speed of mail-express trains has not increased. To increase the speed of passenger trains, the government launched the Mission Raftaar campaign. However, this, too, had no effect. 

In a report filed in Parliament on Wednesday, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) stated that an investment of 2.5 lakh crores was made in the Railways between 2008 and 2019. Even still, mobility has failed to ameliorate the situation. Mission Raftaar, which began in 2016-17, aimed to achieve an average speed of 50 km/h for postal trains and 75 km/h for freight trains by 2021-22.

The average speed of the Mail-Express was around 50.6 kmph in 2019-20, whereas the average speed of the Goods train was around 23.6 kmph. According to the data, 123 (26%) of the 478 very fast trains had an average speed of less than 55 kilometres per hour.

13 crores were squandered

The Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) was unable to properly utilise World Bank money, resulting in a Rs 16 crore liability. During the land acquisition procedure, an unnecessary expenditure of Rs 285 crore was committed. RailTel was given the allotted spectrum but did not use it. As a result, 13 crores paid on spectrum royalty costs went to waste.