Indian Railways Toilet System

 Indian Railways serve 7,000 stations and 22 million passengers daily. Indian Railways commits to provide clients with safe and trustworthy train services, as well as clean and hygienic surroundings on trains and in stations. There are only 1600 long-distance trains. Suburban trains cover an average of 42 km. The remaining 4700 trains are estimated to be 3100 passenger trains traveling 50 to 250 km and 1600 mail/express trains operating 300 to 2400 km. Mail and fast trains are filthy. Both must be addressed. Even if we haven't done so, it would be fascinating to look at the train profile's duration and time (two or more nights or one night and arriving early in the morning) in terms of biological functioning and cultural norms. In the early days of the IR, lower-class train coaches had no bathrooms. On July 2, 1909, Babu Okhil Chandra Sen complained to Sahibganj [1].

Here's the letter

Later, all lower-class trains traveling over 50 kilometers were expected to have bathrooms added. Trains over 150km must have bathrooms in every compartment.

Indian Railways are testing three toilet models.

1.      Modular Toilet

The IR rebuilt the coach toilets to be more pleasant and modern. The revised toilets are created as fiber-reinforced plastic modules that may be installed directly inside coaches in place of conventional toilets. Jan Shatabdi railway cars now have modular toilets. With the modular toilet, waste is stored in a sealed tank, eliminating the need for dirtying stations. When train speed surpasses 40 km/h, the tank is steadily emptied. There is no environmental impact because the discharge occurs in the broad countryside. 7.5 lakh per coach for modular toilets. It will be part of IR's Operation Cleanliness.

2.      Chemical Toilet

The RDSO of the IR has developed specifications for train toilet systems. Standard mainline rolling stock requires a vacuum toilet system to flush toilet waste to a collection/retention tank located below the under the frame. The toilet system should provide a sealed commode with an effective flushing mechanism and an odor-free interior for IR mainline broad gauge (BG) coaches. There are four toilets in each IR mainline passenger coach. One or two toilets on some coaches. The coach type determines the quantity and type of toilets. No discharge of trash. No spilling of wastes on the bogie parts, undergear, or track.

3.      Bio Toilet

The IR had tried chemical toilets on long-distance trains, but they were not successful in terms of odor and disposal frequency. Other countries, however, employ this in planes and railways. Instead of keeping waste in a hole or piping it to a sewage treatment plant, a chemical toilet disinfects it using chemicals. The blue pigment in the bowl water identifies these toilets on flights and trains. Alternatively, a chemical toilet can be made by mixing chemicals with water in a container or bucket. These can be found on intercity buses or in dwellings without indoor plumbing.

As a result, IR is currently focused on bio-toilets developed with DRDO. Bacteria digest garbage. CO₂ and methane are discharged into the atmosphere. Any remaining liquid can be discharged onto the tracks. Rats and fish were not harmed by the wastewater in experiments. They have been installed in about 5,500 trains since 2011. Passenger train bio-toilets not only reduce track littering by roughly 2,74,000 gallons per day but also save the Indian Railways around Rs 400 crore yearly. Indian Railways has installed 2,58,906 bio-toilets in 73,078 carriages, helping to keep railway tracks clean. A bio-toilet is a dry toilet that composes human waste. Methane gas, carbon dioxide gas, and water are produced from the decomposition of human excretory waste in the digester tank [2].

References:

1. Toilet and Trains, G. Raghuram (IIM Ahmedabad), August 2007.

2.https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/bio-toilets-save-rly-rs-400crayear/articleshow/83269272.cms?utmsource=contentofinterest&utmmedium=text&utm campaign=cppst