All Vande Bharat train passengers will henceforth receive a 500 ml. bottle of Rail Neer Packaged Drinking Water (PDW) during their journey, the Indian Railways has announced. Additionally, travellers can ask staff for a complimentary second bottle as well without any charge. The decision has been made to reduce the wastage of drinking water, ANI reported.
Passengers aboard Vande Bharat trains were until now provided with one-litre water bottles. But since Vande Bharat trains travel on shorter routes than Rajdhani trains, the Railways has decided to modify the regulations and allow half-litre bottles on board.
Similarly, on Shatabdi trains, the passengers now get 500 ml Rail Neer bottles instead of the one-litre bottles. Indian Railways provides passengers with limited water on trains that have a maximum operating period of 8.5 hours.
For passengers travelling on Shatabdi trains for more than five hours, the 500-ml bottle replaces 1-litre water bottles.
Central Railways has been using recycled water for coach and platform cleaning as part of a larger initiative to encourage water conservation. Through 32 recycling units, it harvests almost one crore litres of water every day.
Furthermore, rainwater collection devices have been erected in 158 sites, and three automatic coach-washing operations have been established to boost water saving. In addition, to support and maintain the regional ecology, Central Railways has planted five lakh trees at various locations as part of massive afforestation initiatives.
The Vande Bharat express trains were introduced in 2019 and are presently plying on over 40 routes around the nation.
The first train was flagged off on the New Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Varanasi line on February 15, 2019.
The trains include several contemporary amenities, like WiFi, large glass windows, enlarged footrests, overhead racks, and running at a semi-high speed.
At least 51 Vande Bharat trains, consisting of thirty-four 8-car services and seventeen 16-car services, are in operation as of April 25, 2024.
Source: https://www.cnbctv18.com/travel/food-and-drinks/to-reduce-wastage-of-drinking-water-indian-railways-makes-bold-move-on-vande-bharat-shatabdi-trains-19403268.htm
