Kept a book, games, cards, charged the mobile phone for that long train journey? From December, you may not need these things as the Western and Central railways are planning in-train shopping on long distance trains and foot massages on the stations.
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The railways are planning to have perfumes, bags, watches and travel essentials for sale on the premium trains and after that on long distance trains. They plan to start the on-board sales on its Shatabdi trains from December; the central railways wants to begin on-board sales in October, in the AC coaches of the Konark Express, Chennai Express and Ernakulam-Hazrat Nizamuddin Duronto.
The move comes after the Ministry of Railway told the zonal railways to generate 1,200 crore revenue apart from the sale of railway tickets. “The shopping experience will start with consumer goods on outstation trains,” said Sanjay Mishra, divisional railway manager, western railways, confirming the proposal. “A tender will be floated by September-end and the service will begin by December.”
A senior central railway official said they had already floated the tenders. “If we get a good response, we will introduce the shopping experience on a pilot basis by October. But, we first want to ensure the products are of good quality. Passengers can start shopping on all premium trains by December,’’ said an official, according to the reports.
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“The idea is similar to the products available on flights. The aim is to ensure a pleasurable shopping experience for commuters, which is why our focus will be on operate that run during the day,” said a senior western railway official.