Passengers arriving at Raipur railway station are facing longer and longer waits, as trains that leave their origin stations only slightly behind schedule end up hours late by the time they roll into the city.
Nearly 40% more trains than the network can handle
The main reason trains are running late through the Raipur division is being linked to overcrowding on the tracks. The division has the capacity to handle around 100 trains, but more than 140 are currently being operated on it, roughly 40% above what the network was built for. That overload is showing up in the running time of almost every express passing through.
Amarkantak Express loses over four hours
The clearest example is the Amarkantak Express. It left Bhopal only 3 minutes behind schedule, but by the time it reached Jabalpur, the delay had stretched to nearly 3 hours. At Anuppur, it was still running roughly 3 hours late. It finally pulled into Raipur at 11:13 am instead of its scheduled 6:55 am, a total delay of 4 hours and 18 minutes.
Sarnath Express also falls behind
The Sarnath Express told a similar story. By the time it reached Anuppur, it was running about 1 hour and 7 minutes late, and that gap widened to nearly 2 hours and 50 minutes by Raipur. Between the Kargi Road and Uslapur stations, the train was held for an extended stretch, adding further to the delay.
Freight trains get priority, passengers pay the price
Alongside passenger trains, a large number of freight trains run on the same stretch of track. Because freight movement is given priority, passenger trains are frequently halted mid-route to let goods trains pass. A delay created at one point on the line keeps compounding at every station further down the route.
Crowded waiting hall, frustrated travellers
On Sunday evening, the AC waiting hall at Raipur station was packed with passengers, many of them repeatedly checking train status updates on their phones. Surendra Babu, travelling on the Korba-Yesvantpur Express, was supposed to reach Raipur at 11:40 am but arrived nearly 8 hours late, at 8:23 pm. Sejo, arriving on the Ahmedabad-Howrah Express, missed an important meeting because of the delay.
Officials say trains arrive late from other divisions too
Sushkar Vipul Bilasrao, senior DCM of the Raipur division, said trains coming in from other divisions are often already running late before they even reach Raipur, and that the division tries to dispatch them onward as quickly as possible. On Sunday, the Tatanagar-Itwari Express arrived 8 hours and 20 minutes late, the Amarkantak and Porbandar Superfast trains were around 3 hours behind, and the Howrah-Mumbai, Puri-Durg and Surat Express trains reached Raipur roughly 2 hours late.
