Indian Railways passengers won't get 1 litre water bottles on Shatabdi trains anymore - Here is why

Indian Railways passengers will not get 1 litre water bottles on Shatabdi trains anymore. The step has been taken by railways to reduce the wastage of water on trains. However, the passengers will continue to get smaller bottles. Indian Railways has said that it will continue to provide 500 ml Rail Neer bottles instead of the standard one litre bottles to passengers travelling long distance including those of premium Shatabdi trains.  

According to an order issued by the Railway Board, Shatabdi trains which have a maximum run time of around 8.5 hours will no longer be providing 1 litre bottles of water to passengers travelling for more than five hours as was the norm earlier. Currently, passengers who travel for five hours on Shatabdi trains are given 500 ml water bottles while those with travel time of more than that are given 1 litre bottles. Now, everyone will be given 500 litre bottles as we have seen that water in bigger bottles is being wasted," said a senior official of the ministry.

The order adds that passengers can continue to get extra bottles if they pay for it. A chair car service, Shatabdi trains are for short journeys, the longest travel time is between Delhi and Bhopal which is 8.5 hours. The order stated the scheme will be in effect for the next three months.

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Extra trains for festivals

To deal with the festive rush, Railways had decided to run 200 pairs of train from Durga Puja to Christmas across the country. These special trains are part of 2,500 additional services floated by the national transporter to ensure smooth journey for passengers travelling during the festive season, Ministry of Railways said in a statement.

"Indian Railways is running nearly 2,500 additional services in 200 pairs of special trains across the country. Special trains have been planned to connect major destinations across the country on railway sectors like Delhi-Patna, Delhi-Kolkata, Delhi-Mumbai, Mumbai-Lucknow, Chandigarh-Gorakhpur, Delhi-Chappra, Howrah-Katihar, Haridwar-Jabalpur, etc," railways ministry said in its statement.