The Indian Railways will introduce several new facilities on the trains to improve the cleanliness in trains and also to make the journey comfortable for the passengers.
Presenting the Railway Budget 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha, the Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Indian Railways will expand 'On Board House Keeping Scheme' (OBHS) to cover 200 additional pairs of trains during the current financial year.
It will take up improved linen management to bring about a significantly improved quality of washing, through modern mechanised automated laundries.
The Minister also announced that the Railways will explore the possibility to depute at least one doctor in long distance trains. Arrangements would be made to provide ambulance services
for passengers at Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bhuvaneswar to start with.
Initially a pilot project would be started at the metropolitan cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram. On its success, it would be extended to other cities, she added.
The Railway Budget also envisages the trials of vacuum toilets similar to those used in aircrafts on a few coaches. Field trials are also being conducted for introducing environment friendly green toilets.
The Railway Minister mentioned the difficulties being faced by women, children and aged persons while commuting in Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) and Mainline Electric Multiple Unit (MEMU) trains where the travel time is less than four hours as the toilets are not provided in such trains.
She said that Railways are now planning to provide toilet facilities where journey is more than two hours.
PIB
