CAG report on railways flags issues with ECoR workshop, construction works at CST station in Mumbai

CAG audit report criticizes Ministry of Railways for workshop inefficiencies and delays in Mumbai railway line construction.

The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) compliance audit report on Ministry of Railways was tabled in both houses of Parliament on Thursday (April 3, 2025).

The report made critical observations on the working of Mancheswar Carriage Repair Workshop in East Coast Railway and construction of the fifth and sixth line between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)-Kurla station covering up to Financial Year (FY) 2022-23.

During 2008 to 2016, augmentation of the workshop was carried out to enhance the outturn capacity to 150 coaches per month. “As against the outturn capacity of 150 coaches per month, the outturn of the workshop during the period from 2016-17 to 2022-23 ranged between 86 and 113 coaches per month,” the audit reasoned.

The audit further observed that the projections for coaches due for periodic overhaul (POH) were not realistic and had undergone downward revision every year. Besides, the delay in sending coaches for POH by the depots, the time taken by the workshop in carrying out POH of coaches was up to three years as against the prescribed cycle of 15 to 20 days days. Audit also observed that the maximum instances of delays were in the Coach Body Repair Shop. 191 coaches were idle for a period ranging from 10 days to 171 days involving 6,558 idle coach-days and in 43 instances, the coaches were idle for more than 50 days.

The audit observed that the number of coaches that failed within 100 days of POH during 2018-19 and 2019-20 was 103 and 139, respectively. “Out of 3,402 coaches overhauled during 2020-23, 131 coaches failed within 100 days of POH,” the audit stated.

The POH capacity of the workshop was understated while reporting to Railway Board. Despite enhancement of its POH capacity to 150 coaches per month in 2016, further capacity augmentation works worth ₹181.78 crore was taken up between 2018-19 and 2022-23 without assessing the compatibility of existing infrastructure and a realistic requirement in future.

The report noted that four high-value machines worth ₹4.15 crore had been lying idle for years due to inherent defects of the machines. Shortfall in procurement of material had resulted in shortage of stocks and the user units repeatedly complained about non-availability of materials.