A seemingly innocuous comment like, “chhutta paisa nahi hai” is enough to incite a flare-up between a commuter and a ticket-vending staffer at any railway station. Similarly, travellers without authorised tickets often refuse to back down when confronted by a ticket collector (TC). Now, in a rare initiative, railway authorities are attempting to engineer an atmosphere of bonhomie at stations by training employees in customer care and hospitality services.

Illustration/amit Bandre