After Catering, Bedrolls And Curtains Return To Trains

In a major relief to passengers, Indian Railways has decided to resume supply of linen, blankets and curtains inside trains after a gap of about two years. In an order issued to general managers of all railway zones, the railways said the supply of the bedrolls would resume with immediate effect.

In view of the pandemic and Covid-19 protocol, the railways stopped providing linen, blankets and curtains inside trains. The railways had also suspended onboard catering services due to the Covid-19 situation.

However, with cases on the decline and the train operation returning to normality, the railways first allowed catering services and now has issued orders to restore the linen facility in coaches.

The railways was providing about 4 lakh bedrolls including bedsheet, pillow and its cover, blankets and hand towel in a day to cater the requirement of passengers during normal train operation.

However, according to a senior railway official, it would take a while to restart the linen service as all these items would be cleaned first before supplying. We have to restart the laundry service for cleaning all these items and the supply would resume in a gradual manner, said the official.

In view of the pandemic and Covid-19 protocol, the railways stopped providing linen, blankets and curtains inside trains. The railways had also suspended onboard catering services due to the Covid-19 situation.

However, with the infection cases on the decline and the train operation returning to normality, the railways first allowed catering services and now the linen facility is also being restored in coaches.

There was a demand for bedrolls in AC coaches with the restart of train service across the country. Bedroll supply is expected to begin on premier service like Rajdhani and Duronto services first, followed by overnight mail/express services.