Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

Decision taken to help maintain hygiene of food prepared in pantry cars; passengers will also be able to fetch drinking water from the purifier

The Central Railway has decided to install water purifiers in 10 long-distance trains to help maintain hygiene of food prepared in the pantry cars. Though CR has not named the trains as yet, sources say that the purifiers could be installed in three north-bound and a few trains on the Pune route. Passengers can also fetch drinking water from the purifiers. A K Singh, PRO, Central Railway, said, "This (installing purifiers in trains) is a very good initiative and our motto is to provide pure water and food to passengers. The water will be pure and filtered so passengers can also avail this service from the pantry car."

He added, "To begin with, we will be starting this facility in the prestigious trains only. We are considering to installing purifiers in two-three north-bound trains and also a few Pune-bound trains such as Deccan Queen."

So what prompted the railways to take the decision?  Of late, railway authorities have been receiving a lot of complaints about the unhygienic food in the trains. And at times, they received complaints of dirty water being used in the pantry cars for preparing food. A senior railway official, on the condition of anonymity, said, "This is a common complaint and it is also true. The water used currently is not hygienic. The water is kept in steel containers, which are not washed regularly. We have found some insects and other impurities in the water containers during the raids."

According to railway officials, there will be one purifier in each train. Though passengers are excited about the new initiative, they are not very hot on the idea of installing only one purifier in a train. Nimesh Shah, who frequently travels to Pune, said, "This is a very good initiative, but the only drawback of this plan is that it envisages installing one purifier in each train. They should provide more than three-four water purifiers in a train or else passengers will not benefit from this service."