Railways minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday said the transporter “is taking unprecedented precautions to prevent the spread of coronavirus infection”.
“Railways is taking unprecedented precautions to prevent the spread of Novel #Coronavirus infection. The railway stations and trains are being sanitised to ensure utmost hygiene, making travel safe for passengers,” Goyal tweeted with photographs of cleaning operations of trains.
With two casualties and 83 infected so far, the government has launched an array of precautionary measures to stop the spread of the infection. While airports were the focus of primary attention in the initial fight against the infection, the government is now also concentrating on the railways, the largest people carrier.
The railways have undertaken a massive cleaning drive to ensure the safety of passengers travelling in trains. Coaches are being sanitised with disinfectants during primary maintenance to contain the threat of the virus.
The East Central Railways in a statement said the cleaning staff of major stations has also been instructed to disinfect various passengers contact surfaces like benches, chairs, washbasins, bathrooms, doorknobs, etc. Railway authorities are also carrying out fogging of trains and all pit-lines as part of the drive.
In Mumbai, the Central Railway has 200 of its staff at suburban railway stations to spot symptoms of coronavirus and assist suspected passengers to the nearest hospital.
Staff members of Central Railway including station masters, ticket checkers, booking supervisors, railway hospital staff and railway personnel at the Emergency Medical Rooms (EMR) of suburban railway stations have been trained in handling commuters showing symptoms of coronavirus.
The Indian Railways is the fourth largest railway network in the world by size with a route length of more than 67,000 km.
