Western Railway Intensifies Food Safety And Water Quality Checks; 98 Per Cent Food And 99.87 Pc Water Samples Pass
· Free Press Journal
Mumbai, August 19, 2026: Western Railway’s (WR) medical department inspected nearly 1,000 food samples since April and recorded an overall fitness rate of roughly 98%. It has also received 64 ‘Eat Right’ certifications for 51 railway stations and 13 campuses across the zone.
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The Western zone of Indian Railways has executed an extensive, multi-divisional monitoring drive targeting food quality, hygiene standards and drinking water safety. The drive aims for an aggressive push to elevate public health standards and passenger confidence across its network.
Food Quality Monitoring
According to the data released by Western Railway, it has subjected 357 food samples to be tested under the Food Safety and Standards Act, which resulted in 356 samples meeting all prescribed parameters, marking a 99.72% compliance rate.
Similarly, about 642 samples were tested under Quality Control Compliance, out of which, 626 samples passed inspection, yielding a 97.5% success rate.
Notably, Rajkot division, Bhavnagar division and Mumbai’s premier Jagjivan Ram Hospital scored a perfect 100% pass rate across both FSSA and QC testing metrics.
Senior officials confirmed that instances of non-compliance identified during testing are triggering immediate corrective action, including penalising default vendors, issuing notices, and re-auditing base supply points to ensure zero tolerance for contamination.
Eat Right Certifications
WR’s alliance with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) under the national 'Eat Right India' movement reached a major milestone by securing 64 ‘Eat Right’ certifications. This includes 51 Eat Right railway stations and 13 Eat Right campuses.
The certification protocol involves third-party audits evaluating food handling, waste management, pest control, vendor personal hygiene and the availability of healthy dining options. The initiative focuses heavily on mandatory training for catering staff, base kitchen handlers, and platform stall operators to institutionalise safe practices.
Drinking Water Surveillance
The medical department also carried out a comprehensive surveillance of drinking water supply, given the operational scale of Western Railway – which serves millions of daily commuters in the Mumbai Suburban network alongside long-distance passenger routes.
The Medical Department’s surveillance network focused specifically on high-touch points, including platform taps, water coolers, station storage reservoirs and railway colony pipelines.
Since April 2026, the railway network has executed about 3,879 bacteriological tests, registering a 99.87% overall fitness score. A perfect 100% bacteriological fitness was recorded across Vadodara, Ratlam, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, and Dahod divisions, as well as Jagjivan Ram Hospital. About 33,104 residual chlorine tests were also conducted at dispensing points to ensure active disinfection against waterborne pathogens.
Mumbai Division Water Checks
According to WR, water monitoring in the critical Mumbai Division was bifurcated between suburban commuter stations and non-suburban stretches to maintain micro-level quality control. Across the suburban stations, about 329 out of 333 bacteriological tests met potable standards.
Out of 2,193 residual chlorine tests performed, 2,192 returned satisfactory levels. In the non-suburban section, all 381 bacteriological samples tested 100% fit, while 3,039 out of 3,090 residual chlorine tests proved satisfactory.
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