New Delhi, 06 October (H.S.):

The Railways has ordered special monitoring of cleanliness, toilets, waste management and passenger amenities in 11 long-distance trains with journey durations exceeding 40 hours. The Railway Board has directed that cleanliness and maintenance be ensured throughout the entire journey, from the originating station to the destination.

In instructions issued to the zonal railways, the Board said deficiencies relating to cleanliness, toilets, waste management and minor coach defects should be addressed during the journey itself. The trains will be monitored by the concerned maintenance depots, coaching depot officials and Divisional Railway Managers.

The 11 trains identified for special monitoring include 22503/04 Vivek Express (Dibrugarh-Kanyakumari), 15909/10 Avadh Assam Express (Dibrugarh-Lalgarh), 01665/66 Rani Kamalapati-Agartala Express, 19483/84 Ahmedabad-Saharsa Express, 22365/66 Danapur-SMVT Bengaluru Superfast Express and 11401/02 Pune-Supaul Express.

In addition, 15707/08 Amritsar-Amritpali Express (Katihar-Amritsar), 11077/78 Jhelum Express (Pune-Jammu Tawi), 13201/02 Rajgir-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus Express, 22831/32 Howrah-Yeshvantpur Superfast Express and 12203/04 Amritsar-Saharsa Garib Rath Express have also been brought under the monitoring programme. These trains have journey durations exceeding 40 hours. Among them, the Vivek Express covers a distance of 4,158 kilometres and has a scheduled turnaround time of 170 hours.

The Railways has directed that adequate staff, materials and equipment be made available at identified clean-train stations along the routes, along with arrangements for carrying out minor repairs. Bio-toilets will also be inspected during the journey, while emphasis has been placed on collecting waste from all coaches every two hours.

To monitor cleanliness, railway authorities have been instructed to take time-stamped photographs of coaches and toilets at originating, en-route and destination stations. The Railways said recurring passenger complaints would be analysed to identify their root causes, followed by immediate corrective action. The initiative aims to keep the trains clean and serviceable throughout the entire journey.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar