Dirty toilets and unsafe water on trains and at stations
Passengers made more than one lakh complaints about toilets without water on long-distance trains in 2022-23. A 2026 audit found E. coli in tap water at 8 of 49 stations tested.
Open for ideas, evidence and questions.
What we know
The CAG's audit of cleanliness on long-distance trains (Report 15 of 2025, covering 2018-19 to 2022-23) counted 1,00,280 complaints in 2022-23 about no water in coach toilets and wash basins, and found bio-toilets in worse condition in non-AC coaches than in AC ones.
Its 2026 audit of 512 non-suburban stations (2019-20 to 2023-24) found 458 of them, more than 89%, short of one or more of the minimum amenities the Railway Board requires. Toilets were often broken or unhygienic, E. coli was found in tap drinking water at 8 of the 49 stations tested, and 59% of 395 amenity works were delayed, some by more than four years.
Open questions
- When did the toilets in your last train's general or sleeper coach last have water?
- How many cleaning staff does your station have per platform, and are they paid on time?
- What happened to the contractors fined for dirty coaches, and did the fines change anything?
- Is drinking water at your station tested, and are the results posted?
- How quickly does a Rail Madad complaint about a dirty coach get fixed during the journey?
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