Toilets, garbage, linen: Railways overhauls of on-board services, in Gen Coaches as well

NEW DELHI: Railways is seeking to address the biggest concern of long distance passengers— train toilets. It on Saturday rolled out reforms in on-board services with focus on regular cleaning of toilets, wash basins and garbage collection in trains on the move, including for millions of passenger travelling in general or unreserved coaches to have access to cleaned toilets.This is a sharp contrast to the current practice where toilets, basins and common areas in general coaches of moving trains are not cleaned at regular intervals unless there is a complaint. A top railway official said this provision is being introduced for the first time. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “In the current mechanism, cleaning is done only in reserved coaches. We have included general coaches in the new reform.” Officials said they aim to ensure cleaning of toilets in such coaches every 1-2 hours.Vaishnaw also said the earlier “clean train station” concept, which provided thorough cleaning at limited stations, is now being replaced with a continuous cleaning model from the train’s origin to its destination. “Toilets, garbage bins, cabin interiors, water availability, and minor electrical or mechanical defects such as lights going out will be addressed continuously during the journey,” he said.Minister announced two reforms — ‘for better on-board services’ and ‘rail-based logistics through Gati Shakti cargo terminals and cargo related facilities’ — as a part of its target to implement “52 Reforms in 52 Weeks in 2026”.To begin with, around 80 long-distance trains with high passenger patronage — 4-5 trains per zone — will be covered under reforms relating to on-board services in the next six months and over three years, it will be implemented across all trains. Vaishnaw said fully technology-enabled professional teams will be engaged with defined Service Level Agreements, specifying cleaning frequency and more frequent cleaning during peak hours. Continuous toilet cleaning, garbage removal, cabinetry cleaning, linen handling and related services will be ensured, and AI-generated images of cleaning activities will be monitored and analysed.Vaishnaw said the linen distribution, linen collection, and cleaning functions, which were earlier distributed among separate agencies, will also now be integrated and awarded to a single entity.He said the reforms in the cargo terminal segment are expected to generate around Rs 30,000 crore additional revenue from new Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals (GCTs) in the next three years. The most significant additions are the integration of processing within cargo terminals, transforming them into “cargo plus processing” hubs and extending contract period from the current 35 years to 50 years.