Kalyan and Thane stations to get beauty salon and spa centre

Mumbai: Passengers taking the local trains from Kalyan and Thane stations may now be tempted to opt for a quick relaxing massage, spa treatment and grooming sessions as the Central Railway (CR) plans to open beauty salons inside the two busiest stations

Mumbai: Passengers taking the local trains from Kalyan and Thane stations may now be tempted to opt for a quick relaxing massage, spa treatment and grooming sessions as the Central Railway (CR) plans to open beauty salons inside the two busiest stations.

HT Image

The salon and spa will be inaugurated in a week at Kalyan station, while Thane station will see the same in a month.

The concept of the salon will be similar to the one opened in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in March 2022 which according to CR is a profitable venture.

According to sources, CR earned around ₹79 crore between April 2022 and February 2023 as non-fare revenue (NFR), which includes salons and spas), as compared to ₹27 crore from April 2021 to February 2022.

“The salon and spa at CSMT is quite popular among passengers. It is also helping us generate funds under the non-fare revenue,” said a CR official.

The VMAT Salon and Spa is located in the open space concourse between suburban and mainline platforms at CSMT. Under this concept, the licensee, who pays ₹75 lakh for a period of five years to CR, offers facilities such as physiotherapy by a professional, body massage through a massage chair, and salon services such as hairdressing, shaving, facials etc. available to the patrons. Personal care items such as hair products, generic and Ayurvedic medicines, and beauty and cosmetic items are also available for sale. This concept has fetched CR a revenue of ₹75 lakh in five years.

CR has the distinction of ranking number one in non-fare revenue over all zones of Indian Railways. Its performance in FY 2022-23 (April to February) has been impressive with a record NFR of ₹78.86 crore as compared to ₹27.10 crore during the corresponding period last year, which is the highest among all zonal railways, showing an enormous increase of 191%. During April 2021 to March 2022, under non-fare revenue, the Mumbai division earned ₹21.96 crore.

Other contracts and tenders awarded until February under NFR include the external vinyl wrapping of local trains that generated revenue of ₹243.30 lakh per annum for 3 years, e-auction with an annual licence of ₹491.06 lakh, Rail Display Network contracts with earnings of ₹125.44 lakh per annum among other things.