Cleanliness on track, now for timeliness

Railway stations in India, so beloved of nostalgic chroniclers, were meant to be sooty, dusty, chaotic, noisy, messy and odoriferous. What is a train journey in this country without certain extreme sights, sounds and smells assailing travellers and reminding them that they were journeying along India’s pulsating lifeline?

In that sense, the vigorous cleanliness drive launched by Indian Railways — leading to the shining success of Jaipur as the nation’s most spic-and-span this year — is almost antithetical to this Indian icon.

Without itinerant vendors, stacks of cargo, languid stray dogs and, particularly, the pungent ammoniac aroma of the tracks, an Indian station could be mistaken for one from anywhere else in the world. This new international indistinction is an achievement that not many would understand.


That stations round the country have cleaned up their act so visibly is also due in no small measure to Indians also following suit. Moreover, they must be commended for putting up with the inconvenience of cleanliness — no squatting, eating, littering, dumping and sleeping just about anywhere and anyhow, any more.

This newly instilled discipline can be tedious for those used to the laissez-faire policies guiding railway stations for the past century or more. Now, Indian trains also need to run on time — just like elsewhere.