Nagpur: The Central Railway Nagpur Division has registered 86% punctuality for mail and express trains in FY 2025-26, an improvement that reflects efficient train management despite ongoing infrastructure upgrades and higher traffic volumes. Another development in the pipeline is upgrade of the famous Diamond Crossing to increase train speeds at the junction from the existing 10 kmph.Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Nagpur Division, Central Railway, Vinayak Garg on Thursday told the media that the division managed an average of 151 Mail and Express and 121 passenger trains daily while rolling out multiple passenger-friendly facilities “that enhanced travel comfort, speed and reliability”.As per the DRM, several key initiatives directly benefited passengers and improved overall service quality. “Many stations were upgraded for enabling better train traffic movements and increased line capacity for smoother operations. Additional loop lines were commissioned at many stations to reduce delays and enhance flexibility,” said Garg. Also the 23 km WR-Deoli-Kalam section was electrified in June last year.In freight operations, iron ore traffic recorded a massive 176.7% growth, rising from 1.50 MT last year to 4.16 MT in 2025-26, with loaded rakes increasing from 371 to 1,020. “The cement and clinker loading rose by 12.7%, iron and steel by 90.3%, and container loading by 4.7%,” said Garg. The first Pit Wheel Lathe was commissioned at Ajni coaching depot, improving coach maintenance quality and turnaround time.“Additionally, the Unified Kavach Control Centre was established in the divisional office with 102 towers, the highest in Central Railway, backed by automatic block signalling completed in almost 50 km, registering almost 50% improvement,” said DRM Garg. He was accompanied by senior divisional commercial manager Aman Mittal and senior divisional operations manager Krishnath Patil and others.Giving their best performance in the last four years, wagon detachment reduced by 63%, rail/weld failures by 81.82%, and OHE failures by 42.86%. Track renewal rate increased 14.37% to 108.54 km.Also, 20 level crossings were closed and five defective layouts were corrected. # Speed restrictions relaxedThe Central Railways relaxed speed restrictions on key sections of the Bhopal-Nagpur route — Magardoh-Dhodra Mohar (Down) from 65 to 85 kmph in Betul (MP), Bhandak-Majri Jn (Up) from 75 to 130 kmph in Chandrapur and Tinkheda-Katol (Down) from 100 to 130 kmph in Nagpur. These changes will improve train speeds and punctuality, said an official.Sectional speeds on the new 3rd and 4th lines between Ajni and Khapri (9km) on Nagpur-Wardha route and the 3rd line between Godhani and Bharatwada (7km) on Itarsi-Chhindwarahave been raised to 110 kmph to ease congestion.
