Howrah and Sealdah, among the country's largest and busiest railway stations, have been ranked "average" in a survey on cleanliness conducted by the railways across 407 stations.

Both stations have also been ranked in the bottom 10 out of 32 used by more than 50,000 passengers daily. CST Mumbai and Chennai Central, which are in the same category, have been ranked in the top 10.

Cleanliness of ticketed areas, non-ticketed areas, toilets and waste management were some of the parameters used for the survey, commissioned by the Railway Board and conducted by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) along with a private agency.

Kolkata station, used by far fewer people - less than 10,000 daily, on an average - has been ranked "fair", a level above Howrah and Sealdah.

The survey results were published on Tuesday. Of the 407 stations surveyed, Howrah ranks 275, Sealdah is 346 and Kolkata station 131. CST Mumbai, which receives more footfall than Sealdah and Howrah, has been ranked 129 while Chennai Central stands eight notches higher at 121.

Around 8.5 lakh people use Howrah station each day while Sealdah handles about 12 lakh. CST Mumbai receives more than 15 lakh passengers every day and yet stays much cleaner, according to the survey.

"We are a little surprised with the result of the survey. We stress a lot on cleanliness at Howrah station. We have over 100 cleaners, plus many contractual staff cleaning the station premises," said Badri Narayan, the divisional railway manager, Howrah.

Passengers have a different story to tell. Their refrain is that both Howrah and Sealdah stations have dirty washrooms and the platforms are often littered with trash.

Parcels of fish are ferried through the new terminal at Howrah station and water seeping out of them makes the platforms filthy. Besides, scores of hawkers selling vegetables squat inside the subway leading to the bus terminus from the old terminal, dirtying the place.

In Sealdah too, much of the fish and vegetables arriving at the markets come through the station. The entry to the station is just as uninviting, with dug-up portions making the passage to the terminal uncomfortable.

The objective of the survey on cleanliness was to assess passenger satisfaction, something that used to be done only at airports.

The survey document states that 300 passengers were interviewed in each A-category station. In A1-category stations that include Howrah and Sealdah, 400 passengers were asked about what they thought about the cleanliness standards.

Passengers were asked to rank stations across 40 parameters. The questionnaire included benchmarks such as the absence of stench on the station premises, cleanliness of footbridges and tracks, availability of bins, general condition of the floors, condition of free toilets and pay-and-use ones and availability of water.

A portion of the questionnaire delved beyond basic passenger amenities. It asked the respondents whether electric cables in the station were properly dressed, if unwanted posters had been removed from walls and whether flies, mosquitoes and rodents had been controlled. Each of the stations was assigned a score on the basis of the responses to the 40 questions asked of every passenger participating in the survey.

In terms of percentage rating, the absence of stench was given the most importance. This question carried 12 per cent. Next came availability of bins with 10 per cent. Cleanliness of platform areas, condition of flooring across platforms and promptness in cleaning of human waste were assigned 5 per cent.

The survey results classify the stations into five levels. Stations in Level 1 are "very good", those in Level 2 are "good", Level 3 denotes "fair", Level 4 are "average" stations and Level 5 is "below average".

Bandel and Burdwan, two other stations in Bengal, are ranked in the bottom 10 of facilities with a footfall of more than 50,000 a day. Bandel falls in the "average" category, the same as Howrah and Sealdah, but Burdwan fares worse. It is "below average", according to the survey.

Do you agree/disagree with the ratings for Howrah and Sealdah? Tell ttmetro@abpmail.com