Dirty linen greets passengers on ER trains

KOLKATA: In case you are boarding a long-distance train from Howrah or Sealdah, don't be surprised if your bed sheets have curry stains on them or the hand towel smells foul.
The railways in eastern India are faced with a dirty-linen problem, thanks to delay in supply by the private laundering agency.
As clean bedrolls are not available on time for all trains, used bedsheets, pillow covers and towels that are 'less unclean' are packed into brown paper envelopes and handed out to passengers in air-conditioned coaches.
"I travelled in an AC-II tier coach of the Jodhpur Express recently. The bedrolls supplied were extremely unclean. When passengers complained, the bedroll porter threw open his cupboard and asked them to choose for themselves. Not a single sheet or pillow cover was laundered. The porter admitted that linen is not being cleaned on a regular basis," said city resident Kumud Sharma.
Eastern Railway has two mechanized laundries at Howrah and Sealdah. The one at Sealdah can handle 4.2 tonnes of linen every day while the capacity of the one at Howrah is a mere two tonnes.
According to sources, this barely meets 10-15% of the demand. The linen from these laundries is supplied to trains like the Rajdhanis and Durontos. Bedrolls from other trains are sent to private agencies. that were engaged through a tender process.
"On receiving complaints, we checked with the private agency and were shocked to know that one of its units is not operating for the last three months. As a result, the supply of fresh linen is getting delayed and quality is suffering. We are now pressuring them to resume normal supply as soon as possible. Steps have also been taken to increase the capacity of the laundry at Sealdah to 5.6 tonnes," said Samir Goswami, CPRO, ER.
South Eastern Railway (SER) has only one mechanized laundry at Tatanagar.
This has a capacity of two tonnes per day.
According to an official, 14,271 sets of linen are required by SER trains every day from originating stations. Linen cleaned at Tatanagar is brought to Howrah for important trains like the Duronto Expresses.
For other trains, SER depends on private operators. Officials have now cleared the way for three more mechanized laundries. The largest of these will be at Santragachhi.
"Our general manager A K Verma is very keen to ensure that passengers receive quality service. The mechanized laundry at Santragachhi will have a capacity of 16 tonnes. This will have a batch-washing system and will be installed on a build, operate, own and transfer (BOOT) model. The land will be provided by the railways. Two more laundries of two-tonne capacity each are to be commissioned at Chakradharpur and Hatia. We believe that a large portion of our demand will be met once these laundries become operational," said Soumitra Mazumdar, CPRO, SER.