Getting food in railway, while traveling by train, is one of the most wanted things among railway users in India. For foodies we have sandwiched a good news. Grab a popcorn packet and read patiently.

Indian railways does provide food in train, but often there are complaints that food served in train is not fresh or is not too hot. Many people have also raised issues about lack of cleanliness in pantry cars of railway. Mostly the food served is prepared more than 2 hrs ago.

Food is distributed in trains by IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) and while it has done a good job in a sense that it has made the availability of food possible among large number of passengers traveling by train in India each day, it won't be false to state that it has struggled in serving the good quality hot and fresh food.

pantry car
Modern pantry car in Indian Railway trains


Hot and fresh food is a sensitive issue as it is directly related to health and well being of the people. While people are appreciating IRCTC on how it has made easy to order food in train and get it on the seat, the quality of food is not what they are satisfied with yet.

Now to address this issue, Indian Railways has planned to establish a base kitchens at major railway stations on the route. This is like what we see in airways. The idea is to make the fresh and hot food available to passenger any time.

Since the kitchens will be a separate unit and not a part of train (as in case of pantry car), it will be easy to monitor the food preparation process which will enable railway to serve better meals to its customers. This is similar to the policy railway adopted a while ago, where it attempts to provide home like food in train to the passengers.

The good thing is that the indian  railway is not only hell bent on providing world class food, but also it wants to ensure that food is available at a reasonable rate. For example, in mail/express trains, it has been ensured that water bottle is not sold for more than Rs 15. The higher limit for lunch is set to Rs 50 and that for breakfast is set to Rs 30 respectively.

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