In a bid to improve cleanliness and services on-board trains, the Central Railway (CR) has rolled out a mobile app to monitor the work of the on-board housekeeping staff (OBHS) on a real-time basis. The app, called SPARK, has been provided to staff on nearly 42 trains of CR’s Mumbai division.
The app is linked to a QR code-based complaint redressal system, which allows a passenger to register a complaint online with details such as train number and coach number. Once submitted, the complaint is sent to the OBHS supervisor on the app and an SMS, and is monitored by the control centre. “All complaints need to be addressed within 30 minutes or it is escalated to a railway officer. We have received around 90 complaints over the last two months through this system,” a CR official said.
Unique feedback
Instead of collecting feedback through a paper form, passengers will be now be given a tablet, on which they will need to provide their feedback. “Each feedback will be unique as it will be linked to a PNR number and can be submitted only on getting an OTP code. This will ensure that the feedback is not being tampered with,” an official said. The official added that the old system gave room for fudging of feedback, on the basis of which contractors for OBHS are appraised.
The OBHS supervisors will also need to send updates of the cleanliness schedules through the app and upload photos clicked by the app. “Earlier they used to send images, which was difficult to verify where or when they had been clicked. Now after each round of cleaning, they are expected to upload an image which is clicked from the app, which will have a time stamp and the location of the picture,” a senior railway official said
“We aim to serve our passengers better through the use of this new system. We should have the system in all trains of Mumbai Division within a month,” Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer, CR, said.
