You can now eat your favourite seasonal, regional foods in trains

HYDERABAD: Regional cuisines and seasonal delicacies will now be available on the catering menu of Indian Railways. Indian Railways is now allowing Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation(IRCTC) to customise the menu to accommodate regional and seasonal preferences.

This applies to both prepaid trains such as Rajdhani Trains and mail express trains, according to Indian Railways. Indian Railways has taken several steps to cater to the diverse tastes of its passengers from all over the country.

IRCTC will also have the flexibility to serve different menus to different groups of passengers, such as diabetic food, baby food, healthy food options based on millets, and food requirements during festivals.

This will provide significant flexibility in accommodating and promoting regional delicacies across various trains travelling across the country. Importantly, this flexibility has been extended not only to prepaid trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Mail/Express Trains, but also to Standard and Ala-carte catering options for the benefit of passengers.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will decide the menu for prepaid trains where catering charges are included in the passenger fare. Branded food items sold at MRP and a-la-carte items (menu and tariff determined by IRCTC) are also permitted.

IRCTC will decide the menu of budget segment items such as standard meals for other Mail/Express trains within the fixed tariff that has already been notified. Janata meals' menu and pricing will remain unchanged.

All necessary precautions will be taken to prevent frequent and unnecessary changes, the use of subpar brands, and other potential hazards throughout the process in order to preserve the quality and standards of the food and service. The menu will be priced according to the tariff, and passengers will be notified in advance for their convenience.

According to SCR General Manager Arun Kumar Jain, this is another important measure that cannot only give a significant boost to regional cuisines but also help meet the diverse food preferences of rail passengers. He also advised IRCTC officials to maintain the highest quality of food items in order to meet the expectations of rail users.