Face Towels To Pillows: Nearly 1.27 Crore Linen Items Stolen From AC Coaches In Indian Railways In 4 Years

Every journey on an air-conditioned (AC) coach offers a neatly packed linen bedroll, consisting of two bedsheets, a pillow, a pillow cover, and a face towel. But roughly one in every 1,000 passengers walks away with at least one item, resulting in a quiet yet persistent loss for the Indian Railways.

According to The Indian Express, citing an investigation, from January 2022 –– when bedroll services resumed fully following the Covid-19 pandemic –– to May 2026, at least 1.27 crore bedroll pieces were reported stolen, most prominently by passengers.