Passengers of Rajdhani and Shatabdi will now get text messages on their mobile phones if their scheduled trains get delayed by more than an hour.
Currently, the SMS messages are being sent to wait-listed passengers after the confirmation of their berths.
Railways made the much-needed facility operational on Saturday for all Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains, said a senior Railway Ministry official involved with the project, adding that the SMS facility would be extended to other trains too in a phased manner.
Developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), the information technological arm of the Railways, the SMS facility is considered to be an important service for passengers.
The official said in order to avail this facility, passengers are advised to mention their mobile numbers on the reservation slips.
It is a passenger-friendly free service for which the Railways bear the cost of SMS.
There was a trial run of the service on a few Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.
There were a few glitches found during the trial run which were addressed. Now the service is fully operational in all Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains, he said.
There are total 23 pairs of Rajdhani and 26 pairs of Shatabdi trains running across the country.
Though Railways has increased the speed of many trains to reduce travel time, some trains are running late due to various reasons like track repair.
Eco-Friendly, Disposable Towels & Pillow Covers in Rajdhani
Passengers of the recently introduced Rajdhani between Bandra Terminus and Hazrat Nizamuddin will now enjoy an eco-friendly journey with the Western Railways’ newly launched disposable, eco-friendly hand towels and pillow covers.
These towels and pillow covers were introduced on a trial basis on the Mumbai-Central Jaipur line where it received positive feedback.
While a standard towel can cost anywhere close to Rs 6 per piece including the procuring, washing and handling costs, this disposable towel costs Rs 4.75 a piece. Similarly, the cost of a disposable pillow cover comes up to Rs 8 inline with the traditional railway pillow covers.
Therefore, the rationale behind the Western Railways’ move of introducing these disposable, eco-friendly hand towels and pillow covers for the third Rajdhani passengers is to not only tackle complaints related to hygiene but also save money due to the numerous towel theft cases on train journeys.
Statistics by the Western Railways reveal that an average of five complaints are filed related to linen hygiene per month only at its Mumbai division. And over 70 towels get stolen per month on each WR train operating between Mumbai and other cities. Over 2,300 pillow covers and hand towels made of biodegradable cotton are being distributed per round trip.