Railways aims at having quick cleaning teams after every 3-4 stations, wash toilets in under a minute

NEW DELHI: To ensure toilets of a long-distance train are clean throughout the journey, the railways by 2026-end, aims to have quick washing teams after every three to four stations, finishing the job of cleaning a toilet in “56 minutes”, a top official said.

To achieve this, the railways is exploring several innovative technical solutions — such as better battery-operated portable vacuum cleaners and backpack-type high-pressure jet cleaning machines — by involving start-ups, officials said, adding at present, it takes around seven minutes to clean a toilet.

The officialsaid there is a dire need to bring down this time so that multiple toilets can be cleaned within the couple of minutes of a train halting at a station.

The railways has started frequent monitoring of cleanliness of toilets in long-distance trains and details are shared on a WhatsApp group, in which the Chairman of Railway Board (CRB) is a member along with other senior officials. “In some cases, the CRB issues orders,” the official said.

Recently, in an audit report, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had flagged cleanliness issues on long-distance trains — from choked toilets and unclean washbasins to lack of water and dirty vestibule areas. It had found that over 40% of passengers were dissatisfied with toilet cleanliness, while more than half expressed dissatisfaction with on-board housekeeping.