Earnings - Comptroller and Auditor General of India

Report No.6 of 2006 (Railways)when wagons were ready to be taken out, indicates improper planning andlack of coordination amongst Workshop authorities and operating staff. Theloss of earning capacity due to non-withdrawal of wagons after POH within areasonable period of two days works out to Rs.2.60 crore.When the matter was brought to the notice of Railway Administration (March2005) they stated in June 2005 that the loss of earning capacity worked out byAudit is not correct. As per Railway Administration’s calculation the lossworks out to Rs.2.29 crore. If the wagons are brought in piece meal the costof deployment of engine would have been Rs.2.49 crore. They also stated thatif more than two to three trips in a month are made to the workshop it willchoke up the main line resulting in detention to passenger trains.The contention of the Railway Administration and the loss of Rs.2.29 croreworked out by them are based on the figures of net earning after providing thecost of all operations including the engine hire charges. The loss of earningcapacity worked out by Audit, however, is based on the earning capacity of awagon as published in the Annual Statistical Statements of Indian Railways.Moreover, the Railway Administration’s apprehension of choking up of mainlines is not based on a correct appreciation of audit contention. It wasobserved by audit that in fact the locomotives visited PRTN Workshop at anaverage of 14 days in a month. Out of 910 occasions on which the locomotivesvisited the workshop, on 159 days it was returned empty despite the fact thatoverhauled wagons were waiting for withdrawal from the workshop. Withbetter management of the same number of trips, detention could have beenavoided.The matter was taken up with the Railway Board in October 2005. Their replyhas not been received so far (December 2005).2.4.3 South Central Railway: Loss due to detention of loaded rakesUnnecessary detention of rakes led to loss of earning capacity amounting toRs.7.16 croreThe performance of a Railway depends, among other things, on optimumutilization of its rolling stock with minimum detention and improved turnaround.Maharastra State Electricity Board (MSEB) siding is 5 kms. away from itsserving station viz. Parli Vaijnath (PRLI). The siding is notified as anindependent booking point for charging freight on through distance basis sincethe siding has all the facilities to receive and dispatch rakes without beingdealt at serving station.Review of the records of siding/ station revealed that coal rakes received atPRLI station for MSEB siding were detained in the station yards for about 2hours 12 minutes on an average, even after allowing 30 minutes for change ofcrew and fuelling of engines. As the rake was not to be handled at the servingstation (PRLI) before its despatch into the siding, Audit is of the view thatthere was no necessity for this detention. Total detention on this account wasworked out to 34,411 wagon days with consequential loss of earning capacityof Rs.5.66 crore in respect of 2,153 rakes detained during the period April2002 to September 2004. Even after the rakes were physically placed in the58