Smelly blankets provided in trains may soon be a thing of the past as the Railways is planning to wash them every fortnight as against once in two months now. It has also proposed bringing in lighter blankets for passengers’ comfort.

The dirty blankets provided in trains became a talking point last year after Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said in Parliament that while bed sheets and pillow covers were washed every day, blankets were washed every two months. This made former Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari comment that it was better for passengers to bring blankets from home.

According to the Railway Board, a proposal has been moved for approval by its finance department to increase the frequency of washing blankets from six times per year to 24 times.

“That is likely to reduce the life of blankets from four years to one year, which means the annual cost will increase. But the priority is to provide clean bedrolls to passengers in trains,” said a senior railway ministry official....Read more

Source web page: New Indian Express