Title - City can expect cleaner trains

Soon, Howrah-Barbil Janshatabdi Express and a couple of other trains passing through Tatanagar will be cleaner than usual, thanks to South Eastern Railway (SER) deciding to introduce the Clean Train Station (CTS) scheme at various halts.Officials at the Garden Reach headquarters of SER informed that 10 long distance trains including Howrah-Mumbai Mail, Howrah-Ahmedabad Express, Shalimar-LTT Express, Howrah-Mumbai CST Weekly Express and Howrah-Sai Nagar Shirdi Express will be among the trains to be cleaned at Rourkela. All the trains pass through Tatanagar.The Howrah-Barbil Janshatabdi Express would avail the facility at Kharagpur, where 11 trains would be cleaned while en route.CTS is a major initiative of Indian Railways entailing mechanised cleaning of long-distance trains by professional agencies at stations during scheduled halts.Around 25 to 35 personnel are also involved in cleaning the interiors of the trains, specially toilets, using high-pressure jets and environment friendly bio-degradable cleaning agents.The toilets and coaches are sprayed with mosquito repellent and the area between the toilets, doorways, vestibules and aisles are also cleaned. Dustbins are emptied and windowpanes of AC coaches are cleaned from outside. The accumulated waste is collected and disposed of at its designated place.“The move is aimed at increasing passenger satisfaction. The inclusion of more number of trains in the CTS scheme has been made possible due to the effort of A.K. Verma, SER general manager, who pursued the issue with the Railway Board,” said Soumitro Majumdar, an SER spokesperson.According to him, the CTS scheme would result in improved hygiene on one hand and also reduce passenger complaints.The Chotanagpur Passenger Association and Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) welcomed the latest railway initiative.“We have been raising the issue of improving cleanliness and hygiene on trains at different meetings. We are happy that Janshatabdi Express was included in the list as it is one of the important trains running in the division,” said B.N. Pande, a senior functionary of Chotanagpur Passenger Association.Vice-president of SCCI Suresh Sonthalia echoed him. “Cleanliness on trains is a major issue. We hope the railways would extend the facility to other important trains in the days to come.”