Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu, on Sunday inaugurated the country's first Green Train Corridor in Chennai.
All the trains running on this section have bio-toilets. This has eliminated human defecation on the tracks.
The project is an initiative by the Indian Railways to create rail corridors with zero human discharge by fitting trains with bio-toilets.
While launching the project between Rameswaram and Manamadurai areas in Tamil Nadu, Prabhu said the government aims to fit all coaches in the country with bio-toilets by September 2019.
"Today, we are launching number of programmes. The first is a historical one, that is Rameswaram-Manamadurai - first green train corridor for Indian Railways. For this, we are making it human defecation-free," Prabhu said.
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Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Pon Radhakrishnan, was also present at the event at Chennai Central railway station.
Till Sunday, bio-toilets had been fitted on ten passenger trains containing 286 coaches running in this corridor.
The minister said the government plans to invest Rs. 8,500 billion in the project in the next four years. The initiative would also help to lower maintenance cost of tracks, he added.
"We are very proud that as a part of Government, as a part of development of India, Indian Railways, we will contribute in a small little way to the development of this state," said Prabhu.
On the occasion, Prabhu launched an upgraded Wi-Fi system at the Chennai Central. The improved network was keeping in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's thrust on transforming India into a digitally empowered society, he said.
Prabhu said all railway stations will be revamped with new escalators and modernised coaches by 2020, among others.
