'62 km in 2.5 Hours': Howrah–Mumbai Rail Line Grinds To A Crawl

Frustration is mounting among passengers travelling on the crucial Howrah-Mumbai main line, with social media once again erupting over what many describe as a near collapse of punctual train operations on this busy corridor. The latest flashpoint came after travellers highlighted that it is taking over two and a half hours to cover just 62 kilometres, translating to an average speed of barely 25 kmph - a pace many sarcastically compared to a bullock cart rather than a modern train service.

For the past two to three years, this key railway route, which connects eastern India with the country's financial capital, has been plagued by chronic delays. At the centre of the crisis is the Chakradharpur division of the South Eastern Railway (SER), especially the heavily congested Chakradharpur-Tatanagar stretch, which has become a bottleneck for both passenger and freight movement.

Rail users' groups, particularly the Jharkhand Rail Users Association, have been relentlessly flagging the issue. In a strongly worded message on social media, the group pointed out that trains on the Mumbai-Howrah route have been "in complete shambles" for three years, despite the matter being raised repeatedly in Parliament by MPs from the region. They have now demanded immediate intervention from the Railway Ministry, calling for accountability within the Chakradharpur division and the South Eastern Railway zone.

Railway sources cited in Swaraj report say the problem is fundamentally structural. The Chakradharpur-Tatanagar section is operating far beyond its intended capacity. More than 170 trains pass through this stretch every day, including around 120 freight trains, many of them transporting minerals from Jharkhand and Odisha. As a result, almost all 52 passenger trains that pass through the corridor are forced to crawl behind long freight rakes, often running hours behind schedule.

Even premium services have not been spared. Trains such as the Howrah-CSMT Duronto Express and the Howrah-Rourkela Vande Bharat regularly slow down to an average of 15-20 kmph on this stretch, sometimes taking over three hours to traverse just 62 km. If this is the situation for top-priority trains, ordinary express, mail and MEMU services fare far worse. Many of them end up running eight to ten hours late because of their lower operational priority.

Long-distance trains such as the Mumbai-Shalimar Express and the Geetanjali Express are typically delayed by around four hours, while others like the Ahmedabad-Howrah Express, Anand Vihar-Bhubaneswar Express, and Rishikesh-Puri Utkal Express often reach their destinations ten hours or more behind schedule. For passengers, this means missed connections, disrupted travel plans and exhausting journeys with no clear end in sight.

Adding to the anger is the fact that a long-term solution - the East-West Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) - remains stuck on paper. First announced in the 2016-17 Union Railway Budget, the corridor was meant to divert heavy freight traffic away from mixed-use tracks. However, according to the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd (DFCCIL), the project is still officially listed as "proposed", with even the Detailed Project Report yet to be finalised.

The revised plan envisions a 2,000-km-plus corridor running from Palghar in Maharashtra to Dankuni in West Bengal, with a spur line linking Jharkhand's mineral belt to Andal. In the Chakradharpur division, the alignment is expected to pass through Jharsuguda, Rourkela and Rajkharsawan, before joining the Eastern DFC. Although railway officials claimed that preliminary surveys were conducted nearly four years ago, the project has shown little movement since.

Angry commuters have not held back online. Some accused the system of prioritising mineral exports over ordinary passengers, while others demanded automatic fare refunds for long delays. Several users alleged corporate lobbying and corruption, questioning why goods trains always get priority. Others even questioned the logic of spending massive sums on bullet trains when existing routes are in such dire condition.