The women-only carriages on two direct trains between Beijing and Shanghai have been cancelled after only nine days in service due to a lack of interest.

Tickets for the "women-only carriages" will now also be sold to male travelers as usual, announced sources from Tianjin Railway Station, which is situated to the southeast of Beijing on the sameline.

Booking clerks with the Tianjin Railway Station said that none of the tickets for the special carriages were sold even on the first day of the launch of women-only carriages.

Two special sleeping carriages, with eight cushioned berths were set aside for female passengers on each of the trains, dubbed Z5/Z6 and Z21/Z22, in a move to create a more comfortable and private space for female travelers.

Some female passengers had complained that they felt embarrassed by the presence of male travelers when traveling in closed sleeping carriages with cushioned berths.