Key Details
CAG’s Report No. 31 of 2026 examined 512 stations across all 16 railway zones, including 187 Amrit Bharat stations. The audit mainly covered 2019–20 to 2023–24, with later information included where necessary.
Audit Finding | Scale of the Shortfall |
|---|---|
Stations missing mandatory amenities | 458 of 512 stations, or more than 89% |
Most common deficiencies | Fans at 42% of stations, water coolers at 40% and drinking-water taps at 27% |
Emergency medical preparedness | Neither an emergency medical room nor the prescribed medical box at 441 stations |
Accessibility | Priority seating deficient at 490 stations; help booths at 131; accessible toilets at 134 |
Delayed amenity works | 59% of 395 works were delayed by between one and more than four years |
Unused amenity budget | Between 36% and 44% annually; nearly ₹5,956 crore remained unspent in 2023–24 |
Passenger complaints | Increased from 69,196 in 2022–23 to 74,967 in 2023–24 |
Complaint resolution | Dissatisfaction among passengers providing feedback rose from 37% to 42% |
Mandatory Amenities Remained Incomplete
Railway Board instructions required Minimum Essential Amenities—including drinking water, toilets, seating, shelters and passenger-information facilities—to be available at all stations by August 2018.
Yet only 54 of 512 audited stations had no shortfall. Deficiencies extended to the highest-category stations: 17 of 18 NSG-1 stations lacked at least one tested amenity.
The audit therefore points to incomplete compliance with mandatory minimum standards, rather than delays in providing optional upgrades.
Accessibility and Emergency Care Showed Major Gaps
Accessibility remained uneven despite requirements under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. Among the 512 audited stations:
490 had deficient priority seating;
343 lacked adequate coach-position displays;
134 lacked or had deficient accessible toilets; and
50 of 77 relevant stations lacked adequate tactile guiding blocks.
Railways’ nationwide data similarly showed deficient accessible water taps at 4,639 of 5,920 stations.
Emergency medical facilities were even more limited. 441 audited stations had neither an emergency medical room nor an AIIMS-recommended medical box; only 17 had both.
Drinking-Water Testing Revealed a Direct Safety Concern
Water-quality monitoring was incomplete. Bacteriological testing was absent at 59 stations and chemical testing at 179. In 2023–24, 479 stations did not test all 13 mandatory basic parameters, and no audited station completed the full testing prescribed under the Uniform Drinking Water Quality Protocol.
Samples also detected total coliform bacteria, including E. coli, at 49 stations in 2022–23 and 56 in 2023–24.
These findings do not establish continuous contamination at those stations, but show that testing was insufficient to provide reliable assurance of drinking-water safety.
Execution, Rather Than Funding, Was a Major Constraint
Only 41% of 395 passenger-amenity works reviewed were completed on time, while 36–44% of available passenger-amenity grants remained unspent annually.
Some completed facilities also remained unusable. Southern and East Coast Railways had 141 non-operational or unused CSR-funded toilet blocks, representing ₹35.25 crore in idle assets.
Existing Monitoring Did Not Ensure Compliance
Indian Railways already has inspections, Service Improvement Groups, user committees and grievance systems, but these did not consistently identify and resolve deficiencies.
Required Service Improvement Group meetings were not held at 165 of 179 examined high-category stations, while divisional inspections were absent at 134 stations. Some amenities were provided or repaired only after CAG inspection.
The audit’s broader finding is therefore a gap between formal monitoring mechanisms and timely station-level correction.
Policy Relevance
Minimum standards need station-wise deadlines: Railway zones should publish the outstanding mandatory amenities, responsible officials and completion dates for every station.
Budgeting should be linked with execution readiness: Large allocations are ineffective when projects lack designs, contractors, utility arrangements or operating plans.
Water safety requires auditable compliance: Test results, testing frequency and corrective action should be recorded digitally and made visible for each station.
Accessibility should be treated as a legal obligation: Ramps, tactile paths, accessible toilets and assistance systems should not depend only on station redevelopment or relative project priority.
Assets need operating plans before installation: Toilets and other CSR-funded facilities should have water, electricity, staffing and maintenance arrangements before commissioning.
Monitoring should measure outcomes: Committee meetings, inspections and contractor penalties matter only if facilities remain functional and passenger complaints decline.
Follow the Full CAG Report Here: CAG Report No. 31 of 2026: Passenger Amenities and Sanitation at Non-Suburban Railway Stations