Travelling by Shatabdi Express? Indian Railways replaces 1 litre Rail Neer with 500 ml bottle; here’s why
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No more water wastage! In a bid to reduce wastage of water on board premium Shatabdi Express trains, Piyush Goyal-led Indian Railways have decided to provide 500 ml Rail Neer water bottles to passengers travelling long distance instead of the standard one litre water bottles. The decision was made as it was noticed that water in bigger bottles is being wasted by passengers. According to a PTI report, the Railway Board have issued an order stating that the Shatabdi Express trains, which have a maximum run time of approximately 8.5 hours, will no longer be providing one litre Rail Neer water bottles to passengers who are travelling for more than five hours as was the norm earlier.
According to the report, the order also states that passengers who wish to drink more water can get extra bottles, however, they would have to pay for it. The Shatabdi Express trains offer chair car service and are generally meant for short journeys.
The longest travel time by a Shatabdi Express train is between Delhi and Bhopal which is 8.5 hours. The order issued by Railway Board also stated that the scheme of replacing 1 litre Rail Neer water bottles with 500 ml water bottles will be in effect for the next three months.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the South Eastern Railway has launched a project to make all stations under its jurisdiction eco-smart. Out of its 362 stations, the zone has already started work in 21 stations for developing them as environment-friendly stations in the first phase. So far, progress has been made at Ranchi and Digha stations towards developing them as eco-smart stations.
Under this project, the zone has decided to install Sewage Treatment Plant and Effluent Treatment Plant at all stations for zero discharge of untreated waste water. Therefore, the treated water from these plants will be collected in the collection tank and will be used for coach washing, afforestation and gardening purpose.