Indian Railways Carries Out 14 minute miracle scheme to clean Vande Bharat Trains 

Indian Railways carry out “ 14 minute miracle” scheme, Vande Bharat Trains all over the country cleaned simultaneously in a record time of 14 minutes-

Indian Railways achieve historic feat for the first time ever under the guidance and direction of Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble Minister of Railways –
On Central Railway Solapur-Mumbai, Mumbai-Sainagar Shirdi and Bilaspur-Nagpur Vande Bharat Trains were cleaned at CSMT, Sainagar Shirdi and Nagpur stations respectively

Indian Railways conducted one of the most remarkable activity as part of the Swachhata Pakhwada on 1.10.2023 under the able guidance and direction of Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronics & Information Technology in the august presence of other dignitaries through video link.

This feat was one of its kind to be carried out for the first time in the history of Indian Railways.

Vande Bharat trains stationed at different locations all over the country were cleaned simultaneously in a record time of 14 minutes.

General Managers of all Zones, Divisional Managers of all Divisions, Principal Head of Departments and Senior Officers attended the event in their respective Zones / Divisions.

Central Railway adopted this new “ 14 minute miracle” scheme for quality cleaning of Vande Bharat Express train rake at “other end terminal stations” This new scheme has been brought into force from 01.10.2023.

This exercise was conducted on Solapur- CSMT-Solapur Vande Bharat Express at CSMT, CSMT-Sainagar Shirdi-CSMT Vande Bharat Express at Sainagar Shirdi and Bilaspur-Nagpur –Bilaspur Vande Bharat Express at Nagpur.

The cleaning operation started at 12.42 hrs after the arrival of the train on platform no 8 at CSMT and after ensuring all passengers have deboarded. It was completed at 12.56 hrs within a record 14 minutes.

The cleaning process carried out by 44 cleaning staff in 3 teams-Team A, B and C starts after the arrival of the train on the platform and ensuring that passengers have deboarded well in time.
These teams have been formed to carry out deep cleaning exercise of toilets, interiors including racks, panels, seats, floor and coach exterior.
Earlier, a successful trial had been carried out on September 28, 2023, with seamless collaboration of staff from various departments including Carriage and Wagon (C&W), Railway Protection Force (RPF), Engineering, and Commercial at Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.

This unique approach is going to adopt all over Indian Railways including Central Railway from 1st October 2023 as a part of ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ campaign. On arrival of Vande Bharat Express on terminal station CSMT, after ensuring all the passengers deboarded well in time, the exercise of 14-minute miracle will start. 

The cleaning activities start based on the flow chart for efficient and smooth operation of each activity. A total of 44 staff are deployed for a 14-minute miracle. Three teams are formed to carry out deep cleaning exercises of toilets, interiors including racks, panels, seats, floor and coach exterior. The cleaning group are able to meticulously clean and prepare the train in a mere 14 minutes from start to finish. 

Team ‘A’ for Toilet cleaning: 

Total eight (8) staff are deputed for cleaning the toilets of all 16 coaches. Thus each staff cleans two coach toilets. The activity involves collecting garbage, cleaning the wash basin, lavatory seat, floor and mirror inside the lavatory. One Staff cover average of 04 Lavatories in 14 mins. 

Team ‘B’ for coach compartment cleaning: 

Total thirty two (32) staff are deputed for compartment cleaning excluding the toilets. Thus two staff members are deputed in each coach. The activity involves collecting garbage, cleaning of snack tables, panels, seats and mopping the compartment floor.  Collection of Garbage in bags in 2 minutes  Cleaning of seats and snack tables in 3 minutes  Cleaning of panels and coach – 3 minutes  Compartment Floor cleaning – 6 minutes 

Team ‘C’ for External Panel Cleaning: 

Total four (4) staffs are deputed for cleaning of all windows. Each staff is allotted with 4 coaches in 3.5 minutes per coach. 

14-minute miracle” scheme makes cleaning challenging but Mechanical (Coaching) Division of Mumbai Division has adapted innovative approach, technique and equipment to get the job done. 

The ’14 minute miracle’ cleaning activities will be properly documented for further analysis & feedback mechanism. Based on the feedback of the best practices adopted by the Railways the scheme will be further improved after one month. Plan of Action for V