NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways is preparing to introduce a novel cleanliness initiative called the ‘14-Minute Miracle’ in its Vande Bharat trains. Under this scheme, which will be launched by Union Minister for Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday, the Vande Bharat trains will be swiftly cleaned and made ready for the next trip in just 14 minutes. Currently, the cleaning of the trains takes about 45 minutes.
“This innovative initiative will now be implemented across all Vande Bharat trains at 29 railway stations including in Delhi, Chennai, Puri and Shirdi,” announced the railway minister, who will kickstart the scheme at the Delhi Cantonment railway station.
Vaishnaw added that the ‘14-Minute Miracle’ will be carried out daily on all operational Vande Bharat trains across various routes. “The ‘14-Minute Miracle’ will continue (after the launch on Sunday). After a few months, we plan to extend this initiative to other express trains as well,” he said.
“Railway employees across the country will implement this initiative, ensuring that onboard cleaning is completed swiftly without causing any inconvenience to passengers, regardless of where the Vande Bharat train is stationed,” said a senior railway officer.
Similar cleanliness initiatives are in place in other countries. The Japanese railways employ a similar ‘7-Minute Miracle’, said a senior railway official. The Japanese railway staff clean their bullet trains in 7 minutes, including collecting trash, wiping each of the 1,700 individual tables, opening the curtains, rotating the seats 180 degrees to make them face the front of the train, and numerous other tasks.