RailEnquiry

LUCKNOW: From January 2013, passengers will be able to shop on board the Shatabdi Express.Tenders for the service will be floated by December 23. "We expect to start this service by January next year. The service could be extended to other trains as well," said Neeraj Sharma, chief public relations officer, Northern Railways.A decision to float tenders was taken on December 5 in a meeting between railway board chairman Vinay Mittal and northern railway general manager V K Gupta.The Northern Railways has just completed its first 30-day on-board shopping pilot project on four Shatabdi trains - Kalka, Amritsar Swarn, Lucknow Swarn and Bhopal Swarn. Based on the airline duty-free shopping model, the project was initiated on November 5.A wide range of products like skincare goods, jewellery, chocolates, souvenirs and so on will be available for Shatabdi travelers on the shopping cart. Passengers will have the option to make payment through cash or through credit card using handheld card swipe machines based on GPS technology.Only pre-approved or reputed brand items will be sold.The railways will also revenue from licence fees and a percentage of sales. "12% of daily sales will go towards the earnings of Railways," Sharma saidSales worth Rs 3 lakh were recorded during the trial period where Railways managed to sell products like cordless MP3 players, portable scanners and mini-laptops.