Rich AC passengers steal towels, bed-sheets, pillow-covers & blankets from trains

November 17: The catch line “Railways is your property” seem to have been taken in its literal meaning by the passengers. While theft of toilet mugs, taps, flush pipes and mirrors are reported on a regular basis, the missing bedroll items in a substantial number from trains have posed a challenge for the Railways, which is trying  to provide better amenities to passengers.

According to the numbers released by the Railway Department, in the last fiscal year alone 1.95 lakh towels were stolen from its long-distance trains, besides 81,736 bed-sheets, 55,573 pillow covers, 5,038 pillows, and 7,043 blankets. Add to this around 200 toilet mugs, close to 1,000 taps, and more than 300 flush pipes stolen every year, and you have the great train robbery playing out due to a few passengers’ petty behaviour. “Together, the missing items are estimated to cost over Rs 14 crore,” a senior Railway Ministry official said.

As per Central Railway chief public relations officer, Sunil Udasi, 79,350 hand towels, 27,545 bed sheets, 21,050 pillow covers, 2,150 pillows and 2,065 blankets were stolen between April and September this year itself. The loss amounted to Rs 62 lakh.

In the light of the thefts, especially of towels, the Railways has decided that the face towels given to passengers travelling in air-conditioned coaches will be replaced with cheaper, smaller, disposable, takeaway napkins. The Railways has already started changing the cover of blankets in some sections while the frequency of washing is increased from monthly to fortnightly and weekly. There is also a move to increase the frequency of washing of blankets to begin with and replacing the existing ones with the newly designed lightweight blankets made of soft fabric in a phased manner.

If such a state of affairs prevail then that day may not be too far when railway staff may become compelled to check its passengers luggage before they get down from their AC compartments.