Reliance Jio emerged as the top-performing telecom operator in TRAI’s latest drive test (IDT) conducted on the Jodhpur–Ahmedabad rail route, while Bharti Airtel also delivered strong network quality with zero dropped calls and solid 5G data speeds.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) carried out the assessment on May 4, 2026, covering a 456.9 km rail corridor across Rajasthan and Gujarat to evaluate the real-world performance of mobile operators including Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio (RJIL), and Vodafone Idea (Vi).
The drive test measured key quality of service (QoS) parameters including network coverage, call drop rate, call setup success, and mobile data download and upload speeds across 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks.
Reliance Jio Delivers Best Overall Performance
Reliance Jio recorded the strongest overall network performance during the drive test. The operator reported only 685 poor signal samples out of 26,136 total samples, the lowest among all telecom operators, while maintaining zero no-coverage samples.
Jio also achieved zero dropped calls out of 130 successfully established voice calls, matching Airtel’s flawless call stability.
For mobile broadband performance, Jio posted the highest average download speed of 89.61 Mbps, significantly exceeding its declared typical download throughput of 15 Mbps. The operator also recorded an average upload speed of 9.06 Mbps, outperforming its declared typical upload speed of 7 Mbps.
Airtel Posts Zero Call Drops with Strong Data Performance
Bharti Airtel delivered another strong performance across the rail corridor. Airtel registered 1,843 poor signal samples out of 26,319 samples, with only 11 no-coverage instances during the drive test.
The operator maintained zero dropped calls across 130 successfully established calls, highlighting excellent voice reliability.
On the data front, Airtel achieved an average download speed of 48.53 Mbps, more than four times its declared typical throughput of 11.42 Mbps. Average upload speed reached 11.69 Mbps, comfortably exceeding its declared benchmark of 6.46 Mbps and representing the highest upload throughput among all operators tested.
Vodafone Idea Improves 5G Data but Faces Coverage Challenges
Vodafone Idea (Vi) recorded 5,150 poor signal samples out of 25,817 samples, with 10 no-coverage instances along the route.
The operator experienced 4 dropped calls from 126 successfully established calls.
Vi delivered an average download speed of 12.71 Mbps, slightly below its declared typical download throughput of 15 Mbps. However, its average upload speed reached 8.81 Mbps, surpassing the declared typical upload throughput of 8 Mbps.
BSNL Trails Private Operators in Network Quality
BSNL recorded the weakest performance among the operators evaluated. The state-owned operator registered 7,368 poor signal samples out of 23,625 samples, along with 1,271 no-coverage samples, the highest in the drive test.
BSNL also reported 15 dropped calls out of 122 successfully established calls, resulting in the highest call drop count among all operators.
In terms of mobile broadband, BSNL achieved an average download speed of 7.95 Mbps, above its declared typical download throughput of 5 Mbps, while average upload speed reached 3.76 Mbps, exceeding its declared benchmark of 3 Mbps.
The results indicate that Reliance Jio led overall network quality with the best coverage and fastest download speeds, while Bharti Airtel matched Jio in voice reliability with zero dropped calls and delivered the fastest upload performance. Vodafone Idea demonstrated competitive upload speeds but continued to face coverage limitations, whereas BSNL remained behind private operators in coverage, voice quality, and data performance on the tested rail corridor.