CHENNAI: A laundry in Basing Bridge and Trivandrum currently manages the exorbitant load of dirty linen for railways, in the southern zone, while the zone awaits new laundries at four more locations to ease the load. New laundries are set to open in Mangalore, Madurai, Ernakulam and Coimbatore but it will be a long time before the laundries begin functioning.
“For Madurai and Mangalore, the tenders have been raised again. The last time tenders were floated we did not get a good deal. For Ernakulam and Coimbatore, the process is in an advanced stage,” said a senior railway official. The laundry at Basin Bridge handles about 16.5 tonnes of load daily, from trains originating from Chennai Egmore and Central, which include dirty bed sheets, face towels, pillow covers and blankets. But the spate of complaints against stinking blankets and overused linen continues.
“Bedsheets have become purple because of overuse. People are forced to use the blankets that smell due to temperatures in AC coaches. It is difficult to maintain blankets but at least weekly dry wash of them is something that the railways should consider,” said V.R. Rao, a railway commuter. “Blankets are washed once a month as washing daily affects the life of a blanket. But linen is washed daily,” the official added. “We had started using disposable linen pillow covers for a brief time in Salem division but it was stopped. That will be restarted and continued. Then it can be considered for the entire division,” a senior official said talking about passengers complaining about the hygiene of linen and blankets.
