New Delhi, February 17 The Railway Ministry's recent reform drive to improve and monitor on-board services in long-distance trains is expected to address concerns raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India in its latest report, which highlights major shortcomings in cleanliness and sanitation, experts said.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the first set of reforms under the ministry's ambitious program, "52 Reforms in 52 Weeks in 2026 in Indian Railways," on February 14, 2026.
He said that from origin to destination, train coaches, cabins, toilets, and washbasins will be continuously cleaned and monitored in real time with the help of technology.
In addition to establishing clear responsibility and accountability for service providers, highly trained professionals will be engaged to exceed customer expectations, he added.
The department will leverage technology for monitoring, feedback, and performance management, the Union Minister said.
Experts praised the ministry's proactive and passenger-centric approach, noting that the measures would help address recommendations made by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG).
The audit, which examined cleanliness and sanitation in long-distance trains from April 2018 to March 2023, flagged serious deficiencies in its report presented in the Lok Sabha in 2025.
Indian Railways had launched two schemes, Clean Train Station (CTS) in 2002 and On-board Housekeeping Services (OBHS) in 2006, for internal cleaning of coaches during travel. Both schemes have continued over the years with periodic modifications.
Under CTS, which is directly monitored by the railways, certain stations are designated for each long-distance train that stops there for around 10 to 15 minutes.
During this time, mechanised cleaning is carried out, including cleaning of toilets, floors in doorways and vestibule areas, collection and disposal of garbage, cleaning of washbasins, mirrors and shelves, dry sweeping of coaches, mopping of aisles with disinfectant, cleaning of doors and footsteps, and disinfection of toilets.
Companies awarded CTS contracts deploy teams of at least three members per two coaches, along with two to three supervisors per train, totaling around 25 to 30 personnel for the cleaning operation.
During the audit, the CAG observed that as of April 1, 2018, there were 37 CTS units across 16 zones. Among these, only 30 units in 12 zones were operational until March 2023.
The OBHS, which has been entrusted to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), maintains the overall cleanliness of coaches, including manual cleaning of toilets throughout the train's journey.
"On-board cleaning of toilets and coaches will have to be carried out in all AC, Sleeper Class and General coaches," a Railway circular dated April 28, 2006, stated while announcing the scheme.
Under the program, IRCTC awards contracts to housekeeping firms to deploy staff on board for the entire journey. Washbasins and toilets are cleaned at least twice between 5-10 hours and 18-22 hours, and at least once between 13-15 hours. Cleaning is also done as required or on passenger demand.
The CAG noted that OBHS has been implemented in more than 1,200 pairs of important long-distance Mail and Express trains for cleaning coach toilets, doorways, aisles and passenger compartments during train runs.
After analysing multiple shortcomings, the auditor recommended measures such as deploying adequate resources, adopting a Global Packet Radio Service (GPRS)-enabled biometric attendance system for cleaning staff, strictly monitoring police verification of housekeeping personnel for passenger safety, and implementing an integrated feedback platform for both CTS and OBHS to capture passenger responses online.
Experts said improvements in on-board cleaning were long overdue and that the Ministry’s reform push addresses persistent passenger concerns.
A retired senior official said the railway minister has outlined several steps to bring significant improvements in coach cleanliness, including deployment of technology-enabled teams, clearly defined service-level agreements, and careful selection of service providers with strict penalties for non-performance.
“Strict monitoring of the program and adequate budget allocation will address most of the shortcomings. The plans are promising, but their real success will depend on effective implementation on the ground,” another officer from a firm associated with railway housekeeping said.
