can confirm. trains rarely get late over there, usually the delay will be only by factors like overtakes or some issue with the train itself, otherwise many trains try to maintain the schedule as much as they can

SECR is just now is a fully freight oriented Zone, it does not give a single eye about passenger trains, heck, even premium trains like Humsafar are sidelined to let the freight pass which causes intense delays and which further leads to the rescheduling of opposite trains, sorry for my long rant and thanks...
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for coming to my ted talk :P

I think we should look at two things: traffic as a whole, as well as speed.

Most of the delays are occurring between Gondia and Jharsuguda (Bilaspur - Jharsuguda is the worst). Freight trains are running past these sections in both direction but the issue is not seen there. And this is also the section (from Rajnandgaon) that has triple line along with freight bypass at Raipur.
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What boggles my mind is, decision making where traffic control is stopping trains that are supposed to move faster. Typically, OT happens when the train in front is slower. These premium trains can easily continue to slot between freight trains even if they can't go 130. Instead, they are put aside, to the inconvenience of passengers. They are being treated worse than coal. Its almost as if railways has decided that people should stop using trains.

And as I predicted, Duronto made it to HWH much later (5.10 am actually), or almost 9 hours late! That is pathetic service.

I am shocked though that the return to Mumbai started at 7.49 am, less than 3 hours after arrival, which means, there wasn't enough time to do maintenance.