Railways to introduce hostesses on premium trains on lines of flight attendants

The next time you travel by train, do not be surprised if you find a woman attendant or a stewardess directing you to your seat or making necessary arrangements for passenger safety and comfort on similar lines of what we see air hostesses and cabin crew going about their work aboard an aircraft.

According to HT's sister publication, Livemint, the Indian Railways is soon set to introduce such ‘train hostesses’ on its premium line of coaches – such as the Vande Bharat Express, the Gatimaan Express, and the Tejas Express. The attendants, however, shall not be serving long-distance trains such as Rajdhani Express or Duronto Express.

In an interview with the publication, a senior official of the Indian Railways said just like airlines, here too, the train attendants shall not consist of an all-female crew. However, the women who are appointed for the new post are required to be trained in the field of hospitality service, since they will need to provide such services as greeting those onboard, serving food, and taking care of complaints of passengers travelling in the premium trains of the Indian Railways.

The decision was taken as part of the Railways' ongoing drive to modernise the experience of train travel and provide better passenger facilities as an incentive to generate more footfall. The train attendants shall match the hospitality standards of those seen in flights to compete with airlines' services, the official told the publication, adding that the hostesses will be working only during the daytime and would not be inducted into overnight services.

The Indian Railways currently runs around 25 premium trains on track, including the Shatabdi Express, the Gatimaan Express, one Tejas Express, and two Vande Bharat trains. These trains shall also serve freshly cooked food instead of packaged products, another significant step introduced by the Railways recently to better passenger welfare. An order, issued in this regard to all departments concerned and stakeholders, said the matter has been examined and it has been decided to resume cooked food in trains.