New Delhi: Indian Railways is mulling doing away with cubicle curtains in air-conditioned second-tier (2 AC) coaches of all trains. So there are chances that next time you are travelling in a train in an AC-2 tier coach, you may not see the curtains, as the Railways are finding it difficult to keep them clean. According to a Hindustan Times report, some passengers are using the curtains for wiping their hands and cleaning their shoes, making it tough for the railway operator to maintain cleanliness of curtains that are meant to provide privacy to travellers.
The Hindustan Times report states that the railways are considering a couple of alternatives and may decide to replace curtains with blinds in order to ensure privacy of travellers.
Since curtains are washed once in a month, they often get dirty because of misuse. “There are two proposals, and we will finalise one of them by the end of this month. Replacement with blinds will require capital expenditure, and though there is no dearth of funds, the money can be used elsewhere,” a railway board official told Hindustan Times.
Citing safety, the railways had decided to remove curtains from pathways of all air-conditioned three-tier (3 AC) coaches of trains in 2014. A major fire had ripped through an AC coach of the Bangalore-Nanded Express train, killing 26 people, including two children, on 28 December 2013 in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.