Jamshedpur, April 25: The commercial department of Indian Railways will no more have to employ staff to carry soiled linen and put back the washed ones in air-conditioned sleeper coaches of trains originating from Tatanagar.

The Chakradharpur railway division has introduced a battery-powered platform truck at Tatanagar railway station, which will be used for carrying railway linen, making the station the first in the division to boast such a facility. “The battery operated platform truck is ideal for transporting linen. Over 500 pieces of bedsheets and covers can be carried at a time. The truck priced at around Rs 2 lakh is light, quiet, compact, safe, easy to handle and needs minimum maintenance,” said Biplab Kanti Ray, a senior railway officer and in-charge of the coach depot which operates the platform truck.

According to Ray, the platform truck was introduced on a trial basis on Tuesday. “Depending on the response, we will make use of the platform truck while replacing linen on more trains,” he said.

Railway sources revealed that no other station in the entire South Eastern Railway division has such a platform truck. It is not even there at Howrah, one of the biggest railway stations in the country. The introduction of a platform truck reduced the use of manpower involved in replacing soiled line from the air-conditioned sleeper berths with clean ones. “We used to depute over a dozen staff daily for the job. But, with the introduction of the platform truck we are taking help of less than number of staff,” said an official of the commercial department.

Over half-a-dozen long-distance trains originate from Tatanagar such as Tata-Jammu Tawi Express, Tata-Alleppy Express, Tata-Chapra Link Express, Tata-Amritsar Jallianwallah Bagh Express, Tata-Yeshwantpur Express and Tata-Dhanbad Swarnarekha Express.

Notably, earlier this year South Eastern Railway set-up an automated laundry, the first of its kind at Tatanagar with an investment of Rs 1.5 crore. The automated laundry ensures clean bed linen for passengers in the air-conditioned sleeper berths. Often passengers boarding trains from Tatanagar complained of filthy and stinking bed linen. But, the automated laundry helped in redressing the problem.

The Chotanagpur Passenger Association hailed the efforts of Chakradharpur railway division for introducing the platform truck. “It’s a good step initiated by the railways as using a platform truck will save both time and energy,” said B N Pande, a functionary of the association, which fights for amenities and welfare of passengers.