Surat, Rajkot, Bilaspur among India's cleanest railway stations

According to a preliminary report of 75 A1-category railway stations released by Railway Minister Suresh Prabu in New Delhi, India’s cleanest stations are Surat and Rajkot. The station at Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh was third among the 75 A1-category railway stations followed by Solapur and Mumbai Central in Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) and Vadodara (Gujarat).

Bringing up the rear were Guwahati, Hazrat Nizamuddin (Delhi), Sealdah (West Bengal), Kanpur Central (UP), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) and Muzaffarpur (Bihar).

The idea is to make the entire rail network clean. This is just the beginning of a process which will actually and eventually bring all stations on a par to a particular standard, Prabhu said.

He said the move is in line with the budget announcement of taking steps to improve the cleanliness at the 8,000 stations in India and take forward the ‘Swachh Rail Swachh Bharat’ mission. In ‘A’ Category (332 stations), among the top 10 cleanest stations were Beas (Punjab), Jamnagar and Gandhidham (Gujarat), Vasco-Da-Gama (Goa), Kumbakonam (Tamil Nadu) and Nasik Road (Maharashtra). Shahganj, Ballia and Janghai (Uttar Pradesh), Madhubani and Bakhtiyarpur (Bihar) and Raichur (Karnataka) were among the 10 least clean stations.

Rail Ministry had entrusted the task of the survey to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which engaged TNS India Pvt Ltd for undertaking the work. As many as 75 A1 and 332 A category stations across 16 zonal railways were covered by the survey, which was based on passenger feedback. The survey was conducted through interviews with passengers who were asked to rate the cleanliness of stations on 40 different parameters. The final report, which will also factor in the existing infrastructure, responses from railway staff and non-railway service providers, is expected to be submitted to the Rail Ministry shortly, an official said.

After the scrutiny of the final report, the ministry will take further action for improving the cleanliness standards at major stations, he added.