The Indian railways manages the fourth largest railways in the world by size spanning across a distance of 67,956 km. In the fiscal year ending March 2020, Indian Railways carried 808.6 crore passengers and transported 121.23 crore tonnes of freight. It runs 13,169 passenger trains daily, on both long-distance and suburban routes, covering 7,325 stations across India. IR easily makes the list of the top 10 employers in the world with nearly 1.3 million employees; the US, Chinese and Indian armies are on that same list, along with Walmart and McDonald’s.
IR has been governed by an administrative structure that has been in place for nearly a century and run on infrastructure that has been upgraded only piecemeal over that period. Various case studies on governance structure of railways suggest that it suffers less from a flow of new ideas and more from failures to get them implemented.
IR has been governed by an administrative structure that has been in place for nearly a century and run on infrastructure that has been upgraded only piecemeal over that period. Various case studies on governance structure of railways suggest that it suffers less from a flow of new ideas and more from failures to get them implemented.
Research Methodology
How are macro problems connected to human behaviour?
We looked at the diverse human behaviours in railways
Exploring and observing different ways passengers spend time inside the Indian railways. The activities and zoning they demarcate to personalize the space for themselves and mark their territory.Passengers tend to practice their daily routine even while travelling in trains. Surprisingly everyone finds space, time and environment to do mornig chores like MEDITATING, praying etc. PONDERING is aother form of killing time that passengers tend to do. It is Scientifically proven that views of the horizon makes us day dream. An interesting fact we found was that around 30% of the crowd we observes in our train journey were occupied in their phones at 7:30am in the morning.
These behaviours are dependent on time, gender, smells and many other variables...
These variables are interconnected to each other in complex ways but with common drivers.
How do different users engage with the toilet?
A 1:1 mockup of the toilet space was made and different users were assigned personas and constrains while being instructed to use the toilet. The size of the coloured circles indicate the time spent in one point in space.
Movement Analysis
- Lack of movement clearance incase of 2 people inside the space.
- More circulation on the foot pad of the Indian WC, as people use it to stand on it for washing hands and urinating due to lack of space in between.
- Observations on potential comfortable positions for handlebars.
- More circulation on the foot pad of the Indian WC, as people use it to stand on it for washing hands and urinating due to lack of space in between.
- Observations on potential comfortable positions for handlebars.
Link Analysis
- Physical link : Preparation of utilities before using an Indian railway toilet and the choice that’s made according to the physical movement that each type of toilet demands..
- Visual link : Signage’s lack in creating a visual link.
- Olfactory link: The smell that arises every time we open the doors of the compartment, directing the users to the toilets.
- Visual link : Signage’s lack in creating a visual link.
- Olfactory link: The smell that arises every time we open the doors of the compartment, directing the users to the toilets.
The toilet has a range of ergonomic issues that discriminate based on gender and body type.
The toilet plays a central role in influencing hygiene behaviours inside the train. When the toilet infrastructure are in bad state, hygiene needs are met by other interior spaces. This leads to an overall dirty train.
How do toilet hygiene behaviours influence travel behaviours in train?
Travel Planning Decisions
Crime and Safety Concerns
*Sejal and Lata prioritised their safety over right usage of infrastructure - this attitude lead to damaging usage
Perception of Railways infrastructure
Some other tools that helped us narrow down on toilet hygiene behaviours are..
Actor - Setting - Events - Process Mapping of Behaviours
Outcomes - established relationships between different activities in trains and toilet hygiene needs.
Outcomes - established relationships between different activities in trains and toilet hygiene needs.
Visit to Environmental Sanitation Institute, India
Outcomes - understood the importance of sanitation needs, and how it is connected to empowerment of communities
Outcomes - understood the importance of sanitation needs, and how it is connected to empowerment of communities
Design Brief
Deviant Behaviour
When travelling in trains, passengers restrain from using toilets for defecation and hold it in creating health hazards and discomfort. The key perception that leads to this behaviour is that the toilet space is associated with poor quality infrastructure.
Desired Behaviour
When travelling in IR trains, passengers should feel comfortable to use toilets for activities such as freshening up, urinating and defecating equally. Their perception of toilet should encourage them to conduct themselves in the space with accountability and respect for the space and it's stakeholders.
The road not taken
Circulation Mapping after Introducing a Wall in Passage, an experiment that we carried out in order to understand which path women would choose, when men gathered around the narrow passage towards the ladies washroom at NID Gandhinagar.
Circulation path with empty pathway
Circulation path when there are men crowding the pathway
Simulation: Narrow corridor like in trains created by a soft board separation.
Limitation: Since the test was conducted in college premises, familiarity among the users was an issue of concern and bias.
Findings: The scenarios below show us that more that 75% of women preferred using the longer side of the path to enter and exit the washroom due to presence of Men in short proximity.
Limitation: Since the test was conducted in college premises, familiarity among the users was an issue of concern and bias.
Findings: The scenarios below show us that more that 75% of women preferred using the longer side of the path to enter and exit the washroom due to presence of Men in short proximity.
Solution Sets
Product & Service Interventions
Behaviour change interventions
1. Hygiene maintenance support
2. Reduce loitering time in common area outside toilet
- Motion sensing soap dispenser
- Sanitary pad dispenser
- Exhaust fan to be installed in AC compartments
- Standardisation of graphical representation of information like emergency contacts will make it legible and useful for passengers.
- Sanitary pad dispenser
- Exhaust fan to be installed in AC compartments
- Standardisation of graphical representation of information like emergency contacts will make it legible and useful for passengers.
- Mirror was confirmed to be a key stimuli keeping people longer at the common area outside toilets. When the mirror was concealed with a poster that prompted people to go back to their seats, the time they spent loitering reduced.
- Changing placement of mirror in the common area and shifting it to seating areas can reduce loitering and crowding.
- Changing placement of mirror in the common area and shifting it to seating areas can reduce loitering and crowding.
3. Positions of support furniture needs to be homogenised, inclusive of gender and disability
4. Encourage people not to stare at passengers in corridor area
- Jet spray handle to be given towards the right side, at a height of 50 cm from floor level, to improve accessibility.
- An inbuilt push button flush to help reduce the amount of pressure that needs to be applied on the existing model.
- Sliding door is a very feasible solution to this issue, as long as there is a system that automatically shuts the door after use. 60cm is the current width of the door, which will be changed to 65cm to give a small clearance to allow a higher percentile body to enter.
- Handle bar positioning is proposed at a height of 20cm and above on the right side and a horizontal bar at 30cm above ground level, according to photo documentation.
- An inbuilt push button flush to help reduce the amount of pressure that needs to be applied on the existing model.
- Sliding door is a very feasible solution to this issue, as long as there is a system that automatically shuts the door after use. 60cm is the current width of the door, which will be changed to 65cm to give a small clearance to allow a higher percentile body to enter.
- Handle bar positioning is proposed at a height of 20cm and above on the right side and a horizontal bar at 30cm above ground level, according to photo documentation.
- Women remarked that they felt many uncomfortable gazes on them from strangers when walking through the corridor.
- It was very natural to look at passers when sitting in the seats. We tried keeping attractive posters to check if it’ll grab the attention of passers or seated passengers. The response was mixed.
- There is a possibility to explore this further by introducing it as a wallpaper in compartments
- It was very natural to look at passers when sitting in the seats. We tried keeping attractive posters to check if it’ll grab the attention of passers or seated passengers. The response was mixed.
- There is a possibility to explore this further by introducing it as a wallpaper in compartments
5. Information needs to be simpler to understand
6. Increase illumination levels outside toilets to increase safety
- Legible locking system with occupied/ not occupied symbols.
- An indicator to help know if the toilet requires cleaning or not, which can be switched on by any passenger who finds it difficult to flush or thinks it needs to be cleaned before the next user.
- Optional design change in infographics in current Indian railways.
- Objective is to convey information in a noticeable and legible manner to all.
- Font colours, type and size to be made favourable to eyes.
- An indicator to help know if the toilet requires cleaning or not, which can be switched on by any passenger who finds it difficult to flush or thinks it needs to be cleaned before the next user.
- Optional design change in infographics in current Indian railways.
- Objective is to convey information in a noticeable and legible manner to all.
- Font colours, type and size to be made favourable to eyes.
- The space felt safer to use when it is well lit, loitering and sleeping on the floor in the night also reduced when illumination levels were increased.
- Women found the lit space more comfortable to use than unlit spaces at nighttime.
- Women found the lit space more comfortable to use than unlit spaces at nighttime.
Way Forward
The IR is a great platform to showcase the richness of Indian culture and quality of service. It has the potential to connect people across India together and cultivate a sense of belonging and good citizen values. This starts with addressing some of the core concerns of its passengers. Before jumping to physical design interventions, it’s important to spend time understanding what social factors construct them. Behaviour studies lies at the root of this. Maintenance and appropriate usage of physical interventions cannot be cultivated without changing the mindset around it. This study tries to address that gap through the detailed analysis of a single deviant behaviour. The IR needs to have monitoring systems in place to periodically analyse its passenger behaviours and their interaction with their services. These systems should be customised based on the geographic setting, languages and culture.
The railway infrastructure needs to be more responsive to the concerns of its passengers. They should respond faster and the means to raise these concerns should be simplified at the passenger’s ends. These means of communication should be inclusive of various marginalised groups and people with disabilities. Conversations around innovations should be promoted and further investment should happen in research on infrastructure problems.