SOUTH EASTERN RAILWAY : INDIAN RAILWAYS COMMITS TO ENHANCING PASSENGER EXPERIENCE WITH HIGH-QUALITY LINEN

Kolkata,

Indian Railways is dedicated to provide clean, hygienic, well-ironed, and high-quality linen/bedrolls to all passengers traveling in air-conditioned (AC) sleeper classes. Leveraging the latest state-of-the-art technology, Indian Railways strives to ensure a comfortable journey for its passengers.

As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance customer satisfaction, Indian Railways will implement a comprehensive strategy for supplying quality linen. This includes procuring high-quality linen, implementing modern and mechanized washing facilities, eco-friendly packaging, and developing proper storage facilities at stations and on trains.To maintain the highest standards of hygiene, Indian Railways washes linen in mechanized laundries/washing facilities after every single use.

The Bed Roll Kit includes:

1″ AC

1. i) Superior soft woollen blanket from reputed manufacturer. (one)
2. ii) High density polyurethane foam pillow of 36 x 50 cm. size.(one)

iii) Polyvastra Bedsheets size 140 x 229cm(white). Two per passenger..

1. iv) Bath towel of terry-towel quality from reputed manufacturer with size 60×120 cm (white) is served in Rajdhani and Duronto Express.
2. v) Face towel of terry-towel quality from reputed manufacturer with size40x60cm (white).
3. vi) Pillow Cover 69x46cm

2nd and 3rd AC:

1. i) Blanket of reputed manufacturer. (one)
2. ii) Washable foam pillow of 30x45cms size. (one)

iii) Bed-sheets from reputed manufacturer size 140x229cm(white). Two per passenger.

Polyvastra bed-sheets for AC 2 Tier of Rajdhani Trains.

1. iv) Face towel from reputed manufacturer size 40x60cm(white).
2. v) Pillow Cover 50x36cm.

     Key measures taken by Indian Railways to ensure passenger comfort and safety through clean     bedrolls include:

• Procurement of new linen sets is carried out with improved BIS specifications that have tighter    tolerances to ensure better quality.
• Mechanized laundries have been set up to ensure supply of clean and hygienic linen sets.
• Standard machines and reputed specified chemicals are used for washing of linen items.
• Monitoring of linen washing activities in the laundry premises is done by CCTVs and Railway staff. Regular checks by officers are also conducted ensuring hygienic linen.
• Whito-meters are used to check the quality of washed linen items.
• Codal life of linen items has been reduced from the previously prescribed duration to allow for quicker induction of fresh linen items.
• War-rooms have been established at zonal Head-quarters and divisional levels to monitor/prompt action on complaints lodged on Rail madad portal including complaints on linen/bedroll.
• Eco-friendly packaging of bedrolls.
• The blankets used in Indian Railways, as per current specifications, are lighter, easy to wash and provide good insulation to passengers for overall comfortable journey experience
• Improved logistics for storing, transportation, loading and unloading of linen/bedrolls at station and on trains.
• Reservation against cancellation (RAC) passengers are also provided with complete linen set at par with other bone-fide passengers travelling in the coach.
•  Reduced the blanket cleaning time from earlier 3 months in 2010 to  2 months and since 2016 it got further reduced to 15 days .
• In logistics challenging area it may increase to 20 to 30 days.
• Railways always gives two bedsheets to each AC passengers. One for the spreading over berth and second to use as cover to the blanket.
• Temperature of the AC coach is kept around 24, so that it would not require blanket and bed sheet is more than sufficient.

  In South Eastern Railway, Mechanised Cleaning Laundries Depots are functional at four locations viz Santragachi, Ranchi, Chakradharpur and Tatanagar having a total average capacity of washing 19 tonnes of linen per day with which includes 19,000 packets over these mechanized laundries.