This work investigates the subluminal and superluminal propagation of light pulses in a Combined Tripod and \(\varvec{\Lambda }\) -Type (CTL) atomic medium. By analysing key parameters including normal and anomalous dispersion, group index \(({\varvec{n}}_{\varvec{g}}\) ), and time delay \(({\varvec{t}}_{\varvec{d}})\) , we demonstrate tunable light propagation ranging from ultra-slow \(({\textbf {600}}~\text {m/s}\) , \(\varvec{2}\varvec{\times } \varvec{10}^{\varvec{-6}}{\varvec{c}})\) to apparent backward superluminal \((\varvec{-1000}~\text {m/s}\) , \(\varvec{-3.33} \varvec{\times } {\textbf {10}}^{\varvec{-6}}{\varvec{c}})\) regimes. The group index tunability \(({\varvec{n}}_{\varvec{g}} = {\textbf {5}}\varvec{\times } {\textbf {10}}^{\varvec{5}}\) to \(\varvec{-3}\varvec{\times } {\textbf {10}}^{\varvec{5}})\) and corresponding time delays directly characterise the propagation dynamics, where positive \({\varvec{t}}_{\varvec{d}}\) indicates slow light and negative \({\varvec{t}}_{\varvec{d}}\) corresponds to fast light propagation. Such control is achieved through precise manipulation of the probe field detuning \((\varvec{\Delta }_{p})\) in five-level, N-type, and \(\varvec{\Lambda }\) -type configurations. The five-level CTL system exhibits a significantly broader tunability range—at least one order of magnitude greater than that reported in related studies (e.g., Hamedi et al, J. Phys. B: At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 50(18), 185401 2017), where they studied the subluminal propagation of light pulses, while the N-type system demonstrates both positive and negative group indices. The \(\varvec{\Lambda }\) -type system, in contrast, realises ultra-slow propagation \(({\textbf {600}}~\text {m/s})\) at specific detunings. These results underline the potential of coherent atomic media for quantum optics applications, including optical buffers, quantum memory, and all-optical signal processing. The demonstrated wide-range control of light propagation speeds opens new possibilities in quantum information technologies.
