Western Railway withdraws proposal of on-board massage services

The Western Railway (WR) has withdrawn its proposal of massage services citing inconvenience to passengers, especially women travellers.

Last week the Western Railway announced that trains originating from Indore will provide onboard head and foot massage services to passengers. The decision was taken by the Ratlam Division of Western Railway Zone under New, Non-Fare Revenue Ideas Scheme (NINFRIS).

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While addressing the media, Senior PRO of Ratlam Division, Jitendra Kumar Jayant said:

"A proposal of providing head and foot massage services on 29 trains had been put forward by Ratlam Division. Railway administration has rejected the proposal after respecting the views of the local representatives who had criticised it, saying there would be a paucity of space on trains and may inconvenience people, especially women," 

The Western Railway later confirmed this in a tweet which said that regardless of the withdrawal of proposal, the WR will improve services:

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Sumitra Mahajan, the outgoing Lok Sabha Speaker had raised questions over the proposal in a letter she had written to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal. In the letter, she mentioned that the facilities provided could pose as risk factors for women. After Lalwani's letter, Ratlam Railway Divisional Manager R N Sunkar had clarified that the service would not include a `full body massage'.

"Only head and foot massage will be provided," he said.

"The railways will ensure that the facility will not make passengers feel uncomfortable, he added.

Even BJP parliamentarian from Indore Shankar Lalwani sent a letter and pushed for medical aid facilities on trains over massages. 

However, Jayant has maintained that the Western Railway will continue working on improving passenger amenities. The Indian Railways had announced on board massage services on June 8. But, it was decided that massage service will not be available during night hours (10 pm to 6 am) with three to five massage providers on each train. It was decided that the massage services will be offered on 39 trains departing from Indore. Among the 39 trains in which this services were to br provided included Malwa Express, Humsafar Express, Mahamana Express and Shipra Express among others.