Coach Cleaning

The Indian Railways (IR), in keeping with its Vision 2020, aspires to set the highest standards of hygiene, sanitation, safety, security and hospitality through newer cleaning methods. Processes are on for deployment of green toilets in all coaches, mechanised cleaning of trains, stations & platforms and for providing requisite training to railway employees in the recycling of water, sanitation and waste management at stations. It has already begun enhancing cleaning of trains by retrofitting all coaches with discharge-free green toilets and adopting mechanised cleaning in onboard housekeeping, at maintenance terminals and at Clean Train Stations. The Whitepaper on Vision 2020 also states that each station would be studied for its peculiarities and a well thought-out plan devised to achieve near-zero-waste.

In the process of implementation, performance criteria and standards evolved for each element of cleanliness and the achievement of these standards are being monitored at all levels. A unified system of responsibility for cleaning at stations with adequate financial and organisational resources is being put in place. Professional assistance is being utilised for pest and rodent control and quality cleaning of bed linen ensured through mechanised laundries. The 17 zones of Indian Railways have already begun the process of implementing mechanised cleaning.

A spokesperson of the Central Railway (CR) said, “Indian Railways has been facing criticism over poor standards of cleanliness in coaches, toilets, linen etc. Keeping in mind the growing demand for cleanliness and hygiene, we have started outsourcing activities like housekeeping, pest management and pantry services to specialised agencies. Wherever possible, department/in house initiatives have also been adopted.”

This is being done, as with any other Government departments, through tendering procedures. Bidders meeting the criteria specified in the tenders are short listed. The decision on chemicals and equipment to be used in the railway cleaning originates from the Research & Development Standard Organisation (RDSO) of the Indian Railways in Lucknow. The RDSO, in consultation with the experts in the cleaning industry, has stipulated parameters for equipment, chemicals and tools being used for cleaning coaches. In fact, these specifications were formulated way back in 2000 when the concept of Clean Train Stations got introduced to the IR by Eureka Forbes, said Sanjai Jalla, CMD, CTS Facility Management Company. Jalla had played a key role in formulating the tried-and-tested specifications laid down by the IR for coach cleaning service products.

According to IR sources, under the specifications provided by the RDSO, the Chief Mechanical Engineer of each division lists the brands falling in the specified categories and the same are released to the service providers. The IR has clearly laid down the criteria and properties of every equipment, chemical, tool, manpower and schedule for mechanised cleaning of coaches. Some of the recent initiatives taken by the CR are:

• Progressive adoption of mechanised cleaning of coaches/trains and coach depot premises
• Mechanised en route cleaning of nominated trains during the stoppage at Clean Train Stations
• Cleaning and housekeeping in prestigious trains during the run
• Mechanised cleaning of platforms, tracks, drains etc. in the station area
• Educational publicity campaigns and announcements at stations and trains
• Provision of dustbins/garbage bags for easy disposal
• Provision of controlled discharge of toilet system in coaches

“Coach cleaning is labour intensive and includes sweeping, dusting, scrubbing interior/toilets, degreasing and floor cleaning. The trains get covered with layers of mud and grime during the journey. Window sills collect dirt, toilet pans get soiled and the interior of the train are strewn with garbage, left over food, tea cups, stained linen and muddy foot prints,” said the CR spokesperson.

Outsourcing

BVG India, one of the leading facility management companies based in Pune, is doing mechanised cleaning of coaches at the Wadi Bunder depot of the CR. This yard has been designed similar to the fully automated depot at Puri. Rows of tracks interspaced with wide enough platforms are equipped with high pressure water line of 110 bar pressure, strategic electric power points and other amenities. In all, BVG is cleaning 11 trains – five primary, four secondary and two Round trip Brake Power Certificate (RBPC) – at this depot. Both the primary trains that originate from Mumbai and secondary trains that originate from another depot but halt at Mumbai for maintenance, require intensive cleaning on the external panels and internal area of the train. While primary trains stay back for a longer period of maintenance, secondary trains come for a few hours to the depot. RBPC trains run round the clock and come in for a short maintenance service of two hours. The IR has specified three types of machines for coach cleaning:

• High pressure water jet cleaner for external panels and toilet cleaning
• Single disc scrubber for floor cleaning
• Wet & dry vacuum cleaner

BVG has deployed 36 sets of machines – 12 high pressure, 12 single disc and 12 wet & dry vacuum cleaners. More than 180 workers, 17 supervisors, two site-in charge and one manager of BVG are working in shifts at the Wadi Bunder depot. “We have around 26-28 janitors working at a time on a primary train depending on its length,” said

Rajesh Nair, Regional Head-Indian Railways, BVG. It takes around four to five hours to do intensive internal and external cleaning of coaches. “We only use Karcher machines – high pressure jet, scrubber and a wet & dry vacuum cleaner – besides the Delstar buffing machine.”

Sunil Kapoor, Deputy GM, Manmachine India Pvt Ltd, the distributors of Karcher machines in India, said that a coach scrubber was essential for floor cleaning. The dust accumulation is high due to heavy traffic / footfall inside the coach. More than 90% of the dirt is brought in by passengers entering the coach with dirty shoes and with constant movement of people, the dirt penetrates deeper and forms firm deposits on the floor surface. People walking out of the toilet with wet shoes leave behind imprints of dirt which get stuck to the floor on drying up.

While a single disc scrubber may not cover the entire area due to its circular motion, a normal scrubber would also not do the job, as it cannot reach below the berth or move easily around a congested aisle in the coach. Hence, a scrubber machine having twin movement, i.e. moving back and forth and also swinging side to side, will help clean areas not only under the berths from corner to corner but also move in the aisle conveniently.

Nevertheless, BVG, as per specifications of the IR, uses Karcher single disc machine to remove fixed dirt from the floors. The technical specifications for a compact single disc machine laid down by the IR are:

• Pad speed – minimum of 180rpm
• Working width – not more than 330mm, 13”
• Weight – not more than 20-25kg
• Motor – approximately 500watts

“Mixed with chemicals, a single disc machine cleans and gives glazing to the floors,” said Rajesh of CR. After running the single disc, the entire floor is washed with high pressure jet and an ordinary wipe is used to remove the excess water. Thereafter, a round with the wet & dry vacuum cleaner leaves the surface clean and dry. Dry vacuum is also used to remove cobwebs, dust particles from the seat corners or even dry dust from the floors.

Primary trains coming in are normally covered with dust. They even have excreta stuck on the outside. “A thorough run down with Karcher high pressure jet, locally made special coir scrubber-brushes, JohnsonDiversey R2 chemical and vacuum cleaners help clean the external panels,” added Rajesh of BVG.

One train requires at least three sets of machines at a time for cleaning. Some of the secondary trains handled at Wadi Bunder include the Gitanjali Express and Howrah mail.

At Jabalpur that falls under the West Central zone of the railways, Dinesh Kalve, Director, Ultra Clean & Care Pvt Ltd who has recently started coach cleaning at the Loco pit line, uses auto scrubber and wet & dry vacuum cleaner of Eureka Forbes and the high pressure jet machines. “We also use Eureka Forbes backpack vacuum for easy access especially in external cleaning of coaches,” he said. In all, the agency uses 40 machines in this project.

Toilet cleaning

One of the areas that requires intensive cleaning is the toilets. “High pressure jet is a must for toilets,” said Rajesh. This machine cuts into the grime and is faster to clean. “Ideally, steam cleaning is the right choice for toilets, but with the limited time given to clean trains en route or on board a train, use of high pressure cleaner is the only next best solution. Steam cleaner disinfects, leaves least residual water and reaches inaccessible areas comfortably. Hot treatment on dirt is always better. This machine could be adopted in cleaning coaches at the yard,” suggested Sunil Kapoor.

“Heavy stains in the toilet are treated separately with Delstar buffing machine,” said Rajesh. The buffing machine is a handy tool which works like a hand grinding machine to which a nylon brush or a polishing pad can be attached. “It is mainly used for cleaning WC and washbasins. It can also be used for cleaning vinyl flooring in AC coaches, removing paan stains, cleaning glass with buffing pad and places which bigger machine cannot access,” said Ajith Lalwani, National Head, Delstar. Non-foaming detergent is applied to the surface before the buffing machine scrubs clean the stains.

Even though janitors are provided with protective gears, they expressed their inability to work effectively with protective gears like gloves and boots. As they are continuously working in water, they get wet and water also enters their boots and gloves. Being in wet boots and gloves affects their skin eventually.

The other approved tools and accessories include brushes for external cleaning, windowsill, toilet chute cleaning, floor & door corners, colour-coded brooms, plastic buckets, floor wipers, window glass squeegees, glass cleaning cloth dusters, jute cotton dusters and disposable bags for waste. “It is not possible to clean a toilet manually using just brushes, nor can one use hands to clean inside the WC. Cleaning stains in toilets require mechanical action and force which can be achieved through a buffing machine. Brushes or pads can easily be fitted to the machine and these are not expensive. In fact, separate brushes can be used for cleaning WC or washbasins,” said Ajith. Over and above, it is definitely unhygienic to manually clean a toilet, especially when the janitors, in most cases, find it difficult to work with protective gloves and boots on. BVG is using 45 buffing machines besides other tools of Gala and Unger for cleaning coaches at the CR. Given the constraints of using a manual brush and treating stains effectively, buffing machines not only give quality output but also reduce operational costs, said Ajith.

For Ultra Clean in Jabalpur, cleaning toilets is all the more challenging. “We are basically veterans in platform cleaning and this is our first project of coach cleaning which we are doing since September last year,” said Dinesh. Ultra Clean is cleaning 110 coaches per day of primary trains in three shifts with around 50 workers. In primary trains, the toilets come to the Loco pit line in a very bad condition. It’s not just a matter of cleaning the WC or washbasin but of removing paan stains as well. A combination of chemicals and machines are needed here. Ultra Clean mainly uses chemicals of Altret, JohnsonDiversey and Ecolab.

“High pressure jets are ideal, especially in Jabalpur, as they consume less water and enable intensive cleaning in the least time. We are also fabricating customised brushes along with Bangalore Brushware for coach cleaning,” said Dinesh. Besides, the trains originating from Jabalpur return in the same rake after two-three days. It is first taken up for overhauling at Veraval before it is sent to the Loco pit line. The primary trains handled by Ultra Clean include Jabalpur-Jaipur Express, Jabalpur-Nizamuddin, Jabalpur-Bhopal VIP train and Jabalpur-Howrah.

Not just in the toilets, people spit paan and gutka under the berth and on the side walls of the coach as well.

Some of the other initiatives being taken by the IR in keeping with Vision 2020 include controlled discharged toilet system (CDTS) designed to prevent discharge on track in platform area when train speed is below 30kmph. This has been adopted in LHB design of coaches through transfer of technology and has been provided on about 1300 coaches. These will be fitted in all coaches turned out in dedicated rake formations from railway production units. Zero discharge toilet system, including bio-degradation type toilets, retention type toilets and vacuum toilets are also being procured for conducting field trials to decide the type of environment-friendly toilets to be adopted on coaches of the Indian Railways.

Cleaning Agents

In keeping with the ecological requirement for cleaning agents laid down by IR, CR uses JohnsonDiversey range. The chemicals have to be biodegradable, phosphate free and not combustible.

Cleaning agents have to meet the stipulated composition like anionic surfactants, pH value of dilution at 7, solidification point at <0 ‘C and no flash point up to 100C. It should be a high-grade damp mopping product, free from wax and solvents; should not be sensitive to water hardness; should be mild to the skin; should provide excellent cleaning; retain shine and not damage the emulsion films.

Inspection and grading of rake cleaning

All the coaches, once cleaned, are inspected by the railway officials who grade the cleaning. Accordingly, the payment is released to the contractor. Each aspect of cleaning is graded. If the work is satisfactory and a grade of 90 is awarded, the contractor will be given full payment. If the grading is unsatisfactory and between 70 and 80, the contractor will be subjected to certain penalty. If it is below 70, no payment is made to the contractor. Normally, officers inspecting the coaches look at the quality of work done to the smallest detail. Areas of concern are below the washbasin, corners of the toilet, rooftop of the coaches, magazine net bags and the berth surface. Inspectors rub their hands on the berth to see if it has been cleaned thoroughly. People tend to insert gutka pouches, used tissue paper or bits of chocolate wrappers into the magazine nets. All these are intricately checked by the inspecting officers.

On Board Housekeeping Services

The CR has recently introduced OBHS in some of the primary trains. Broadly speaking, said the CR spokesperson, in OBHS, the coaches and toilets are cleaned, sanitized and stocks like liquid soap, replenished. BVG is also doing OBHS of the primary trains originating from Mumbai, including Konark Express, Punjab mail, Nagpur Express, Vidarbha and Mahanagiri. “We do complete cleaning of the coaches twice a day between 5-9am and 4-9pm. Our janitors travelling in the train undertake complete cleaning of the coach – floor, aisle and toilet cleaning,” said Rajesh Nair.

OBHS mainly involves manual cleaning. Said Rajesh, “Toilets are washed with R6 and R1 but to remove stubborn stains off the floor, we use concentrate R7. The solution is applied and after a standing time of over five minutes, it is wiped out. The stain comes off easily. The floor dusters are from Unger.”

The options of hand wash to be used in OBHS are of Fem, Dettol, JohnsonDiversey and Ecolab. “We use Fem hand wash and Kimberley Clark tissues in the CR trains.” Mosquito repellents like Hit are not used near the vegetable area in the pantry car or AC coaches because there is no ventilation there.

“As a routine, we take feedback from passengers on the over all cleaning. At times, people complain about not receiving proper bedding from the attendant. Even though it does not come under our purview, we promptly convey the same to the authorities concerned. This way, we are able to give satisfactory service to passengers.”

OBHS also has the advantage of giving proper maintenance to coaches, said Dinesh. “If the OBHS is done properly, the coaches will be in good shape when they come to the Loco pit line.” This will also reduce the downtime of cleaning each train. The feedback is obtained from both AC and non-AC coaches. It is obtained on the following grounds:

Clean Train Stations

A special initiative to improve cleanliness on trains has been the introduction of a concept of Clean Train Stations (CTS). At the identified stations, long distance mail/express trains are given halts of about 20 minutes and cleaned by special mechanised cleaning equipment. Another effort for more effective cleaning of stations is to outsource station cleaning activities at certain important stations. While these initiatives have made a positive impact on the identified trains/stations, a much wider and comprehensive coverage would be needed to make a visible impact on the entire system.

CTS include

• High pressure jet cleaning and disinfections of all coach toilets with specified pressure.
• Floor drying with wet & dry vacuum cleaner and cleaning the toilet fittings.
• Mopping / swabbing of aisle, doorway, gangway and toilet corridor areas.
• Spraying of deodorant anti mosquito agent in all the coaches.
• Wiping of platform side window glass of all the AC coaches.
• Disposal of collected waste from all the coaches & underneath the washbasin from AC coaches.
• The entire track of platform on which the coaches are received for CTS attention are to be cleaned with high pressure jet machine vacuum suction.
• The drains along side/centrally of the track to be cleaned periodically with the high pressure jet.
• The platform track shall be cleaned before commencement of the work and after departure of every train during the time CTS cleaning is in operation.
• The contractors nominated representative / supervisor in charge shall liaise with the SSE (C&W)/ nominated representative of the railways for disposal of accumulated waste at nominated place.
• Contractor shall supply all machines including adequate spare, consumables of adequate stock and equipment as per the tender specification and ensure their day-to-day maintenance and supervision.

The criteria of selecting a high pressure jet machine specified by the IR include:

1. High pressure nozzle having frequency of rotation of turbine 100 cycles per sec. The machine shall have motor mounted vertically on reciprocating type pump having ceramic pistons. The pump shall be made of brass cylinder head. The machine shall be user friendly, lightweight having separate detergent injector, automatic start-stop, rubber-tyre-wheel-mounted trolley, Manometer, double lance and four stage filters.
2. The high-pressure machine shall be supplied with necessary attachment which can clean drains.
3. The machine shall be made of anti-corrosive body preferablyABS plastic, galvanised stainless steel, rust & corrosion free body frame. The machine shall have all the protection devices such as overloading protection and overheating protection.
4. The mechanised system shall have a facility of detergent or chemical injector built in for effective cleaning.
5. The mechanised system shall also have 0 to 180 bar Continuously Variable Pressure Regulator.
6. The machine shall have a maximum water discharge rate of 10 to 15 litres / minute.
7. The mechanised systems for washing tracks shall not draw load of more than 3 KW i.e. 13 to 15 amps.
8. The machine shall have a facility of self-priming of 1.5 to 3 metres head.
9. The machine shall work on a maximum inlet water temperature of 60oC.
10. The weight of the machine shall not be more than 50 to 60kg.