Cleanliness at railway stations and railway coaches is a continuous process and every endeavour is made to keep the railway stations and trains in properly maintained and clean condition. Toilets have been provided at various railway stations of Indian railways, as per norms for provision of passenger amenities. To meet the special needs of divyangjan, disable friendly toilets have been provided at around 3850 stations under different zonal railways. Pay and use toilets have been provided at 883 stations and 77 stations have Deluxe Pay and Use toilets on Indian Railways. This information is not maintained state wise.
Some of the measures taken by Indian Railways towards improvement of cleanliness over railways and maintenance of rail coaches are as detailed below.
Indian railways have been consistently making efforts to improve cleanliness and maintenance of trains and stations. Towards this objective a third party audit cum survey on cleanliness of important stations is being carried out annually to get feedback and also to instil healthy competition for improvement. Similar audit cum survey has been taken up for trains from 2018. Continued efforts being undertaken are enumerated below:-
Indian Railways has proliferated 2,40,000 bio-toilets in around 67,000 coaches to avoid discharge of human waste on to the track.
Mechanised Cleaning of coaches is done at both ends.
17 Automatic Coach Washing Plants have been installed to improve quality of external washing of coaches and conservation of water.
On Board Housekeeping Service (OBHS) has been provided in nearly 1100 pairs of important long distance Mail/Express trains.
‘Coach Mitra’ service has been provided in around 1060 pairs of OBHS trains as a single window interface to register coach related requirements of passengers such as cleaning, disinfestation, linen, train lighting, air conditioning and watering of coaches.
39 Clean Train Station (CTS) are operational for limited mechanized cleaning attention to identified trains.
Pest and rodent control of coaches is being done on a regular basis through authorised professional agencies.
Dustbins are provided in AC and non-AC Coaches.
66 Mechanised laundries have been set up to provide clean and hygienic bedrolls.
Standard Bid Document (SBD) and General Conditions of Contract for Services (GCCS) have been issued to improve effectiveness of housekeeping / cleaning contracts.
Systems are in place in order to ensure accepted standards through periodic stipulated maintenance schedules during which required attention are given to coaches.
Regular checks/surprise checks on cleanliness are conducted at officers/supervisors levels and corrective action taken wherever any deficiency is noticed.
Introduction of integrated mechanized cleaning contracts at around 950 stations to ensure regular cleaning of platform, waiting rooms, waiting halls, entrance foyer, circulating area, foot over bridge, toilets, cleaning of platform lines etc.
1310 rag picking contracts and/or garbage disposal contracts are available at stations.
Toilets have been provided at various railway stations, including Pay and use toilets at 883 stations, Deluxe Pay and Use toilets at 77 stations and disable friendly toilets at around 3850 stations.
To ensure proper collection of solid/ plastic waste and bio-degradable waste, twin dustbins with clear identification have been provided at about 1000 stations.
Instructions have been issued for eradication of single use plastic (plastic less than 50 micron thickness) in terms of Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
315 plastic bottle crushing machines have been installed at 229 stations.
Intensive monitoring of cleanliness through CCTV cameras at more than 700 stations is in position.
Indian Railways (Prevention of activities affecting cleanliness in Railway Premises) Rules, 2012 has been intensified.