Overview
- Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told the Rajya Sabha on Friday that each AC bedroll contains two bed sheets so one can be laid on the berth and the second used as a disposable cover beneath the blanket.
- The blanket‑cover sheet is washed after a single use while the berth sheet is sent for laundry after every train journey, according to the minister’s written reply.
- Indian Railways uses Whito‑Meters to measure whiteness in mechanised laundries and has installed CCTV to monitor operations, and it has begun pilot testing automated AI camera stain detection in Pune, Jaipur and Jodhpur divisions.
- Blanket covers are being trialled for all AC passengers on North Western Railway services and on the new Vande Bharat Sleeper between Kamakhya and Howrah as part of hygiene pilots.
- The Railway Board also spelled out codal lifecycles for linen items—handloom sheets 12 months, Polyvastra 24 months, woollen blankets 24 months—and users have raised practical questions about how attendants will identify blanket‑cover sheets and about residual risks for allergy or asthma sufferers.