In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Coimbatore Railway Station has initiated preventive steps, including periodic disinfection and awareness campaigns on its premises.
An official from Salem Division of Southern Railway told The Hindu that objects that are touched by multiple passengers such as handrails, door handles, arm rests of chairs and water taps in the railway station are regularly disinfected by conservancy workers. “These are disinfected twice per shift or six times in a day,” the official said. Coimbatore Railway Station currently employs nearly 550 conservancy staff, out of which 150 are contract workers.
Some of the general instructions provided for the railway station staff are usage of face masks (although not compulsorily), checking for COVID-19 symptoms for any staff who returned to work after long leave, restricting activities such as handshakes and usage of objects such as landline phones by more than one person and avoiding any mass gatherings of their own.
Train coaches are also regularly cleaned during maintenance at the station. Objects that come in contact with multiple passengers such as doors, windows, snack tables, berths, chains and sanitary fittings are disinfected. Adequate quantity of liquid soap is ensured in all the coaches, the official noted.
With the railway station experiencing an average footfall of 29,000 people per day, awareness campaigns such as posters, banners and leaflets along with announcements and video clips on instructions regarding COVID-19 are made available at the station.
No person has been detected with COVID-19 symptoms in the station as of Thursday, according to the official.