New Delhi, January 15: Passengers travelling in Indian Railways will now be able to get an aircraft-like shopping experience in express trains. Reports inform that the new initiative by the Railways, scheduled to be rolled out this month (January 2019), will allow travellers to purchase items of day-to-day use while travelling. The items that will be available for people to purchase include beauty products, home and kitchen appliances, fitness tools among others. However, vendors will not be allowed to sell any eatables, cigarettes, guthka, tobacco, alcohol on board trains. The new facility will be rolled out in phases in long-distance trains where passengers will be able to buy the products using debit and credit cards. First Passenger Train in India ran 165 Years ago. 

According to reports, the contract has been given for five years at a cost of Rs 3.5 crores. Under the contract, the Indian Railways has allowed the licensee to sell FMCG goods under the category of beauty, home & kitchen appliances and other fitness products. The Railways had long back proposed an on-board shopping service for long-distance train passengers on the lines of in-flight shopping in planes. In the first phase, the shopping service will be introduced in two trains and subsequently, two trains will be added in every phase. Indian Railways Heritage Tour on Google Arts And Culture.

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According to a PTI report, the goodies will be sold on board trains on carts where two staffers in uniform will be deputed to sell them between 8 am and 9 pm only. In its first such initiative, the Mumbai division of Western Railway has given the contract for on board shopping for passengers in 16 mail and express trains for a period of five years. The contract has been given to a private player who will have the license to sell household products and beauty products among others.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 15, 2019 01:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).