Passengers can now click pictures of filth and dirt at railway stations and send it across to authorities on mobile messaging platform WhatsApp, as part of the Western Railway's cleanliness drive.

Authorities are hopeful that this will ensure clean railway stations and toilets, a senior WR official said.

A dedicated staff has been deputed round-the-clock to handle such complaints, he said.

Under the initiative, the Western Railway has introduced a dedicated WhatsApp number - 9004499733 - on which passengers can send pictures and report about the unclean condition of the Mumbai suburban stations, the official said.

"Efforts will be made to immediately attend to the area concerned and address the grievance. This will be an additional monitoring mechanism in addition to inspections already being carried out by station masters and other officers," he said.

The WR has also introduced such WhatsApp numbers in its five divisions of Vadodara (9724091426), Ahmedabad (9724093981), Bhavnagar (9724097967), Rajkot (9724094983) and Ratlam (9752492970).

WR's Chief PRO Ravinder Bhakar said 1,068 coaches of its various trains are dry swept daily while 120 coaches are cleaned with the help of machines.

The cleaning of rakes costs about Rs 6.5 crore per year, he added.