WR does the bogie woogie

Updated on: 15 May,2009 07:59 AM IST |
Hemal Ashar | hemal@mid-day.com

Tobacco-juice stained, filthy trains and tracks may soon be history with Western Railway exploring options to improve cleanliness

Tobacco-juice stained, filthy trains and tracks may soon be history u00a0with Western Railway exploring options to improve cleanlinessu00a0u00a0

Mumbai's locals chugging along the Western Railway (WR) tracks are set to get a clean sheen, with the authorities exploring options to improve cleanliness in the trains as well as the tracks.

An Andheri-based company, Swachta, demonstrated the prowess of their German cleaning machines at Churchgate station on Wednesday afternoon for the benefit of railway officials.

They also demonstrated how their vacuum cleaner could clean the railway tracks.

The team then went on to clean a local train compartment, at the Churchgate yard, using a 'blower' to clear the dust even on the ceiling fans and overhead racks.

Kandalgaonkar said the team would be cleaning the trains in the Churchgate yard between 12 am to 4 am "for a few days, starting Monday, for further demonstrations".

The Swachta team, which has machines ranging from Rs 8 lakh to Rs 20 lakh and has water-based and dry cleaning options, believes mechanised cleaning is the need of the hour for public utilities.

"Manual cleaning is arduous and next to impossible especially at stations in trains and n roads," explained Nilesh.

S S Gupta, chief PRO, WR said, "We are always looking for improvements in cleaning. We have already mechanised cleaning in long-distance trains. The latest demonstration is part of our ongoing effort to improve cleanliness standards. However, we do not have a contract with Swachta as of now."u00a0u00a0

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