Good news for passengers travelling long distances! From now, Indian Railways passengers do not have to carry linen and blankets for their train journeys. In a major relief to passengers, the national transporter issued orders on Thursday to resume providing linen, blankets as well as curtains inside trains. The provision was suspended by Indian Railways amid the covid-19 pandemic outbreak. In a notice issued to the general managers of all zones across the Indian Railways network, the Railway Board said the supply of linen, blankets and curtains would resume with immediate effect, a PTI report said.
According to the report, the national transporter, which had suspended the service of providing meals, linen and most of its concessions, has reintroduced most of these onboard facilities. While the food and linen onboard service have been restored by Indian Railways, concessions for train passengers still remain suspended, the report added.
In an attempt to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus, former Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had decided to withdraw the provision of blankets along with curtains in air-conditioned coaches of all train services. However, the national transporter had made arrangements so that blankets are provided to train passengers on demand. The passengers were advised to bring their own blankets for their long train journeys in their own interest. Inside train coaches, Indian Railways had earlier said to keep minimum air-condition temperature at 24-25 °C. However, some additional washed bedsheets were kept for exigencies, the national transporter had stated.
Blankets for the first AC class passengers to be provided on demand with fresh washed covers, it said. Also, all spare blankets and curtains were said to be washed, dried and stored in dry, clean storage facility. Indian Railways had said that 100 per cent fresh washed linen will be provided to train passengers in sealed packets as per instructions.