Travel on spic and span WR trains

The suburban local trains on Western Railway (WR) can be expected to be cleaner than usual. Each train will now be cleaned once every 10 days. Earlier, it was cleaned every 40 days.

The mechanised cleaning at the WR started on Thursday. The work is being handled by a private agency at a cost of Rs 4 crore for two years.

The trains will be cleaned using mechanised cleaning methods wherein the paan stains, stickers and graffiti will be removed using jet water sprays and fragrance filled liquid. “Cleanliness of trains was a major issue. There was frequent chain pulling by commuters because coaches were unclean, which affected the punctuality of train services. Hopefully, this won’ be the case anymore,” said R.N. Verma, General Manager, WR.

Everyday eight trains will be cleaned; four each at the Mumbai Central and Kandivli car sheds respectively. “The cleaning time for one coach will range from anywhere between 25-45 minutes depending on the filth on and inside a coach,” said an official from WR.

Every day 76 out of 84 trains go to car sheds and sidings (individual tracks separated from the line near stations for allowing trains to park at night) for cleaning. The quantum of water taken by the mechanised jet sprays will be around 500-700 litres per coach depending on the stains. “This is 40 per cent lesser than the water used by the conventional method,” added Verma.

The WR are also looking at creating 60 bore wells between Churchgate and Borivli for drawing water at cost of Rs 63 crore. They have dug one bore well each at the Mumbai Central and Kandivli car shed for cleaning trains.