Railways officials found some lavatory taps, hand showers and carpets missing from coaches after the new Mahamana Express returned to Vadodara on Sunday after its first trip to Varanasi, Mumbai Mirror reported.

Coaches were found defaced and the condition of toilets and seats was “especially bad”, the report said.

“We are trying our best to provide modern facilities to every passenger,” Ravinder Bhakar, public relations officer of Western Railways, was quoted as saying. “It is very disappointing if some miscreants steal taps and showers from the lavatory. They didn’t even spare the carpets. The coaches were defaced too.”

Three lavatory taps, four hand showers and two carpets placed between coaches were reported missing. Scratches were present on many seats and some mirrors were damaged.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday flagged off the third Mahamana Express, connecting Varanasi with Vadodara. In its inaugural special run, the train departed from Vadodara on Friday and reached Varanasi on Saturday, before leaving for its return trip.

The train’s features include “ergonomically-designed ladders” to climb to upper berths, LED lighting across coaches, and berth indicators-cum-night-lights to assist passengers who board the train at night. The Railways Ministry said the train’s bathrooms have bigger mirrors, platform washbasins, odour control systems, exhaust fans and LED lights.

Starting September 27, the train will run weekly services, starting from Vadodara every Wednesday and from Varanasi every Friday.

Not the first time

In May this year, the Tejas Express had also been vandalised during its first journey back to Mumbai from Goa. Passengers had stolen headphones and left many LCD screens cracked after its first journey. Toilets had been left unclean on the luxury train, which was also heavily littered. At the time, the railways had appealed to the public to keep trains clean. “We, the Indian Railways, want to appeal to the people of India to use these facilities with a sense of responsibility. After all, the railways belong to us and not just the government,” Central Railway Public Relations Officer, Narendra Patil, had said.