Cleanliness in Railways - Inputs

Dear all:

Cleanliness in urban India also means providing citizens with clean metros, trains and railways.

A lot of good work has already been done by the members of the Make Railways Better circle already and we would like to expand on it in this circle since we have close to 2.25Lakh citizens and many of you are championing Swachh Bharat initiatives in your area.

Below are the Key Issues, Root Causes and Solutions identified by the Railways circle in the areas of Cleanliness. Kindly add if you have anything additional to it. When submitting your comments do mark whether you are commenting on Issues, Root Causes or offering a Solution suggestion so we can incorporate it in the right sections.

The whitepaper from this discussion will directly be shared with Minister, Urban Development and Minister, Railways.

We look forward to your inputs
Ministry of Urban Development

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Cleanliness in Railways (Issues, Root Causes and Solutions)


Cleanliness Issues identified:
1. People stick bills/posters outside trains and on platforms
2. Lack of cleanliness of coaches/ stations/ toilets
3. Using toilets when the train is stationary
4. People spitting on the station/on the tracks/inside the train
5. People defecating in the open at railway stations and on tracks
6. Travellers do not flush after using the toilet
7. Railways does not have adequate housekeeping staff to clean toilets
8. Garbage is thrown anywhere
9. Dustbins are missing from compartments, inadequate or not emptied timely
10. Rats and Cockroaches are common in compartments and pantry
11. Smoking in train compartments
12. People sleeping on the floor and pathways
13. People sleeping on the platforms
14. Beggars with no Civic Sense found onboard in trains and on stations

Root Causes Identified:
1. Railways has become too large an organization to be managed by the Government
2. Cleanliness standards set for the railway employees to follow are very low
3. The sense of cleanliness/ hygiene among the general public is missing
4. The stations/platforms cater to huge numbers and hence become tough to manage
5. Lack of accountability of cleaning staff, faulty/negligent auditing system
6. Lack of awareness and civic sense
7. Lack of sense of hygiene
8. Not enough dustbins on the stations and inside the train
9. Insensitivity towards fellow passengers
10. No fine/punishment for civic offences
11. Al lot of people are plain ignorant
12. Passengers know that the TTE hardly ever comes in the general class and hence they don’t feel the need to purchase tickets
13. Number of people traveling in the trains is far more than the capacity
14. Railways still has a very old style of working
15. A large population of people is still uneducated
16. Railways caters to a very large population and it becomes tough to regulate them
17. Railway police is always on its heels

Solutions for Cleanliness identified:
1. TTEs should make more visits inside the trains so that they can catch people traveling without ticket
2. There should be a fine on littering/spitting on stations and inside the train
3. Install more garbage bins on the railway stations and inside the trains
4. The cleaning staff needs to be made accountable for their work
5. One of the cleaning staff should travel the entire length of train with open dustbin in trolley, so that each passenger can just drop the waste without having to accumulate in the coach
6. Cleaning of stations and trains must be outsourced to private industry with service level contracts
7. People should be sensitised about their fellow passengers
8. Only valid ticket holders to be allowed inside the railway station
9. Awareness campaigns should be organised
10. Bio toilets should be scrapped and the ones like in aircrafts should be installed
11. Toilets inside the trains should be cleaned after regular intervals
12. People should be fined heavily for ticketing violations
13. CCTV cameras should be installed and effective use should be made
14. Sign boards should be put up at different places with the violation and fines printed on them
15. The attendants and catering staff should be trained to create awareness among the passengers
16. Smart cards for vendors & their staffs and coolies should be prepared to prevent unauthorised access
17. Out-sourced agencies should be made more responsible & require strict inspection by railway authorities
18. Beggars and unauthorized vendors should not be allowed inside the platform
19. Passenger policy/rights should be posted inside the train
20. A crackdown should be made on people without tickets/platform tickets
21. Elaborate advertisements in TV & Radio should be done to spread awareness
22. Government should release a series of such educational videos for the schools, colleges, TV stations
23. Use of toilets to be restricted while trains halt in railway stations
24. Sewage collection & better disposal methods should be found
25. Display videos on civic sense at stations more