Passengers steal branded toilet fittings from Deccan Express

According to officials, the Deccan Express and Gadag Express were modernised by the Mumbai Division of Central Railway under Project Utkrisht at a cost of Rs 60 lakh per rake. Project Utkrisht had been launched by the national transporter to upgrade coaches of Mail/Express trains by equipping them with several modern features as well as various passenger-friendly amenities.

In the makeover, the exterior of the coaches have been painted with Utkrisht colour scheme, the toilets have been re-engineered with metered dual flush valve for better flushing and standard ceramic Indian and western toilet pans have been provided anti-skid floor tiling.

However, passengers, who often complain about lack of facilities in trains, seem to have liked the new accessories so much that they decided to take them home, railway official say.

“As many as 99 toilet fittings of the total 240 were stolen from Deccan Express while 70 of the total 160 fittings were missing from the CSMT-Gadag Express. The average cost of each tap, flusher valve and faucet is Rs 1,500, Rs 2,800 and Rs 1,400 respectively. So we have lost at least Rs 3 lakh in stolen accessories and Rs 2 lakh more if the cost of installing them and damage caused to the tiles is considered,” said a CR official, adding that the items stolen were procured from well-known brands like Jaquar, Hindware and Sera.

Officials said although they are trying to capture the culprits, it won’t be possible for the railways to replace stolen accessories with similar ones anytime soon due to their cost.