Mask, Sanitiser Vending Machine Installed At Patna Railway Station

The one in the ECR zone at Patna junction is the first in the area and the second in Indian Railways. First such machine was installed recently at Nagpur railway station on May 18.

Senior divisional commercial manager (DCM) of Danapur division, Aadhaar Raj said that the machine will help the passengers, who either come to board or pass through the Patna junction by trains, to get masks or hand sanitisers at affordable prices. He added that the machine has been commissioned first at Patna junction's platform number one, near the main entrance.

"This would be of great help to especially all those passengers, who come to the station or those on board in the trains and have forgotten to bring the mask and sanitizer during the prevailing outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic," Raj was quoted by The New Indian Express.

The Danapur division of East Central Railway (ECR) provided the space and power connection at a nominal rent of Rs 1000 in addition to the billed amount to run the MSD, Raj said.

The machine comes with an in-built touchscreen display facility to show the price of the products. It has an automated system to accept both coins and paper currency of different denominations and to return the balance amount, Chief spokesperson of ECR, Rajesh Kumar, said.

"It has a capacity of vending 48 different items. As of now, the masks of various safety qualities and the bottle of hand sanitisers of travel-size have been put for automated vending", Kumar added.