Over 1.27 Crore Bedsheets, Towels, Blankets Stolen From Indian Railways AC Coaches in 4 Years: RTI
Every night, about 8 lakh AC passengers across the Indian Railways network tuck themselves into linen bedrolls, typically two bedsheets, a blanket, a pillow, a pillow cover and a face towel — a service that comes with the ticket. And as every trip ends, some of them, about one in every 1,000 passengers, walk away with at least one bedroll item, an investigation by The Indian Express reveals. The newspaper filed Right to Information (RTI) applications with all 69 divisions of the Indian Railways. Replies were obtained from 54 divisions across 16 of 18 Railway zones, some shared partial information. These records show that from January 2022, when bedroll services had fully resumed after the pandemic, to May 2026, at least 1.27 crore bedroll pieces were stolen — mainly by passengers, officials said. The data, when compiled year-wise, shows a 56% rise in such thefts from 2022 to 2025. Set against the sheer scale of what the Railways hands out every single day, it’s a drop in the ocean. But that’s exactly what makes the …
