East Central Railway will deploy onboard housekeeping staff on all long-distance mail and express trains that take 40 hours or more to complete their journeys, expanding cleaning support for coaches and toilets during travel.
ECR chief public relations officer Saraswati Chandra said the staff would clean coaches and toilets throughout the journey and respond promptly to passenger complaints related to sanitation and housekeeping. The move is intended to improve cleanliness and passenger comfort on services where passengers remain onboard for extended periods.
The onboard housekeeping service is already available on several long-distance trains under the ECR. These include the Dibrugarh–Lalgarh, Saharsa–Ahmedabad, Danapur–Bengaluru, Supaul–Pune, Katihar–Amritsar, Rajgir–Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and Saharsa–Amritsar Garib Rath Express services.
Premier trains originating within the ECR jurisdiction, including the Tejas Rajdhani Express, already have onboard housekeeping facilities. The expansion will extend the service to other eligible mail and express trains based on journey duration.
ECR undertakes primary maintenance of 159 train rakes, of which 81 currently have onboard housekeeping facilities, according to Chandra. The planned expansion will increase the number of rakes receiving this service, although the railway zone has not specified a rollout date or provided a train-by-train implementation schedule in the announcement.
Onboard housekeeping is also available on all Vande Bharat Express trains operating on the Patna–Howrah, Patna–Ranchi, Patna–Gomti Nagar, Patna–New Jalpaiguri and Patna–Tatanagar routes under the ECR jurisdiction, sources said.
The service is designed to address sanitation needs during the journey rather than only at terminal stations. For passengers on long-distance routes, the presence of staff onboard allows cleaning requests and housekeeping complaints to be handled while trains are in operation. The next step is the extension of the facility to the remaining eligible long-distance services under the ECR.
