Blankets for AC travellers to be washed twice a month, instead of once in two months: Railways

Plagued with complaints of dirty blankets, the Indian Railways was forced to firm up an action plan to increase the frequency of washing blankets and replace the existing ones in a phased manner. The railways need about 3.90 lakh blankets daily for its AC passengers across the country. While AC 1st class passenger get a changed blanket cover after every use, the facility is not available for the AC IInd and IIIrd class travellers. The Railways has also undertaken steps to set up state-of-the-art mechanised laundries at many stations to cater to the increased requirement of daily washing of bedrolls, including blankets. There are about 50 mechanised laundries operational at the moment and 10 more will be opened shortly.