?Six more Southern railway stations to have food plazas

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) has partnered with Zomato to offer a broader array of food options for rail travelers through its E-Catering segment.

“This is to inform that in view of widening the range of options available to rail passengers for ordering food of their choice under IRCTC’s E- Catering segment, IRCTC has tied up with M/s. Zomato Limited for supply and delivery of preordered meals through IRCTC’s E-catering portal as a Proof of Concept (PoC) in the first phase at five Railway stations i.e. New Delhi, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Lucknow & Varanasi," shared IRCTC in a statement. 

As part of this collaboration, IRCTC has initiated a Proof of Concept (PoC) at five prominent railway stations: New Delhi, Prayagraj, Kanpur, Lucknow, and Varanasi. 

Under this PoC, passengers can conveniently order and receive preordered meals via the IRCTC E-Catering portal with the assistance of Zomato.

This strategic alliance is set to provide rail passengers with more choices and convenience when it comes to their culinary preferences, making their travel experience more enjoyable and comfortable.
 

Godrej Yummiez, a frozen ready-to-cook product brand under Godrej Tyson Foods Limited (GTFL), has partnered with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to introduce millet patties on passenger trains.

Launched earlier this year, the Godrej Yummiez Millet Patty has received a response from households, with people appreciating its nutritious and delicious qualities, crafted from millets such as Jowar (Sorghum) and Bajra (Pearl Millet).

The collaboration between Godrej Yummiez and IRCTC has led to the inclusion of millet patties as part of the breakfast menu on Rajdhani and August Kranti trains traveling between Mumbai and Delhi, enhancing the millet patty's availability to passengers.

Godrej Yummiez introduced the millet patty as a creative snack choice. These snacks are crafted using Individual Quick Freeze (IQF) technology, ensuring their freshness without the need for preservatives.

Combining the nutritional benefits of millets, including their high fiber content and vitamins, with a blend of herbs and spices, these patties offer a flavorful and nutritious snacking option.

“Till recently, the adoption of millets was low due to the perception that they are not tasty and are not easy to cook. This has changed drastically and now every household is embracing the goodness of millets. We supported this adoption by bringing together the nutrition of millets in a ready-to-cook convenient format and launching them in a mass accepted ‘patty’ variant. Godrej Yummiez Millet Patty is a preservative-free snack that symbolizes our commitment to innovation, nutrition, and convenience.” said, Abhay Parnerkar, CEO, Godrej Tyson Foods Limited.

He went on to say, "We are delighted to expand the availability of the delicious Godrej Yummiez millet patty to passengers traveling on Rajdhani and August Kranti trains. IRCTC is a highly esteemed organization known for its extensive railway catering services nationwide. Our exclusive partnership with IRCTC leverages their vast network and expertise in train catering, combined with Godrej Yummiez's culinary excellence, to create an exceptional millet-based food experience."

Rajdhani and August Kranti trains hold a distinguished place in the Indian railway system, renowned for their outstanding service and memorable culinary offerings.

The collaboration between Godrej Yummiez and IRCTC aims to raise awareness about millets, highlighting their importance even within the extensive railway network.

This partnership has already commenced as a pilot program on the Mumbai – Delhi – Mumbai routes of Rajdhani and August Kranti trains, benefiting a multitude of passengers traveling across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Delhi.

 “At IRCTC, we always pledge to provide passengers with quality and tasty food spread. Godrej Yummiez Millet patty on Rajdhani and August Kranti trains taken onboard on a pilot basis reinforces IRCTC's dedication to offer passengers interesting and delectable millet-based food options. We are proud to introduce this product as a pilot as it supports the vision of mainstreaming millets through IRCTC’s catering operations across the massive Indian railways’ network. We tried and tested the product before serving it to our passengers. We are anticipating positive acceptance of Godrej Yummiez Millet Patty which is a perfect snack that is nutritious and convenient ready-to-cook item.” said, Rahul Himalian, Group General Manager, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (Western Zone).

Presently, Godrej Yummiez offers a diverse range of over 50 vegetarian and non-vegetarian products.

The Godrej Yummiez Millet Patty is easily accessible in supermarkets and major e-commerce platforms throughout India, priced at Rs. 180 for 370-gram packs.

The Yummiez Millet Patty is a convenient ready-to-cook option. It can be prepared by deep-frying, air-frying, or shallow-frying and served hot.

The packed food prepared by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) for railway passengers will get a barcode soon. This will help the passengers to scan the barcode using their mobile phone for seeing the live footage of the kitchen where it was prepared.

Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways of India, has said that the instructions have been issued to IRCTC to act on the plan.

Goyal said, "My ultimate thought is that each food packet will get a barcode. You can scan the barcode using your phone and can see the kitchen. You can see and decide whether you want to eat the food or not. The food packets will mention the kitchen number and the time and date of packing. If the food is bad, you can file a complaint quoting the kitchen number and other details." 

The catering wing of Indian Railways, IRCTC (The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation)has installed instant pizza vending machine at the Mumbai Central railway station. The automatic vending machine prepares fresh pizzas within five minutes, that too at a reasonable price.

“As a part of catering modernisation step, IRCTC has installed an automatic Pizza Vending Machine at Mumbai Central Railway Station. This machine will dish out hot pizzas in “mechanised” way for commuters visiting the station,” tweeted IRCTC.

This makes Mumbai Central railway station the first-ever to get an instant pizza vending machine in India. The automatic vending machine has been sourced from Yess Pizza, which is also the first restaurant in India to serve instant pizzas out of a vending machine.

The commuters need to insert the money first and then select from the various choices of pizza. Once the order is made, the machine kneads fresh dough and makes a thin crust base. Once the sauce and toppings are added, the pizza, then, is baked inside the machine oven. All these takes just five minutes.

Besides, the consumers can place the order for French fries and ice cream in future too.

इंडियन रेलवे केटरिंग एंड टूरीज्म कॉर्पोरेशन (IRCTC) ने निर्णय लिया है कि वे ज्यादा से ज्यादा नौ जगहों पर जल्द ही ग्रीन फील्ड बेस किचन स्थापित करेंगे। रसोई बनाने के लिए कानपुर, हजरत निजामुद्दीन, हावड़ा, राजेंद्र नगर पटना, सिकंदराबाद, विजयवाड़ा, चेन्नई एग्मोर, अहमदाबाद और रत्नागिरी की जगह चुनी गई हैं।

रेल राज्य मंत्री राजेन गोहेन ने कहा है, 'IRCTC इन जगहों पर ग्रीन फील्ड बेस किचन बनाने की योजना कर रहा है। नया किचन बनाने या पुराने किचन के रेनोवेशन के लिए IRCTC ने 2018-2019 के लिए 15 करोड़ के पूंजीगत व्यय का बजट रखा है।'

ग्राहकों का विश्वास जीतने और स्वच्छता बनाए रखने के लिए IRCTC ने रसोइयों की लाइव स्ट्रीमिंग शुरू कर दी है।

IRCTC ने अहमदाबाद, बालासोर, खड़गपुर, सेदहा, नोएडा, नई दिल्ली (जहां अभी कान चल रहा है), हावड़ा और राजेंद्र नगर पटना में भी आठ बेस किचन लॉन्च किए हैं।

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has decided to soon establish Green Field Base Kitchens at as many as 9 locations. The locations selected for setting up these kitchens include Kanpur, Hazrat Nizamuddin, Howrah, Rajendra Nagar Patna, Secunderabad, Vijayawada, Chennai Egmore, Ahmadabad and Ratnagiri.

Rajen Gohain, Minister of State for Railways, said, "IRCTC is planning to set up Green Field Base Kitchens at the following locations. A budget target of capital expenditure Rs 15 crores has been set by IRCTC for 2018-19, for setting up new/renovation of existing kitchen/production unit."

In order to win customers' trust and the hygienic conditions that food is prepared in, IRCTC has further started live streaming of its kitchens.

IRCTC has also launched 8 base kitchens at Ahmadabad, Balasore, Kharagpur, Sealdah, Noida, New Delhi (under renovation), Howrah and Rajendra Nagar Patna.

In order to upgrade quality of food served on trains, the IRCTC is to set up new kitchens and upgrade existing ones, parliament was told on Wednesday.

"The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has been mandated to carry out the unbundling by creating a distinction primarily between food preparation and food distribution on trains. In order to upgrade quality of food preparation, IRCTC is to set up new kitchens and upgrade existing ones," Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

He said that the new policy which was floated on February 27 last year mandates the zonal railways to hand over the kitchens managed by them to IRCTC.

"Food Plaza, fast food units and food court will continue to be managed by IRCTC. At present, IRCTC has taken over almost all units in phased manner," he said.

He also said that the procedure laid down for allotment of contracts for running various stalls at railway platforms have also been simplified.

The minister said that the revamping of existing railway catering system by carrying out unbundling under Catering Policy 2017 is aimed at providing quality hygienic food to customers at affordable prices.

Highlighting the initiatives of the IRCTC to upgrade the mobile catering services in the trains, Gohain said: "The menu of prepaid trains has been revised to upgrade the quality of meal served to the passengers and the meal trays of bio-degradable material with air tight sealed cover for packing of meals from kitchens has been introduced initially in selected Rajdhani and Duronto trains."

Beside two initiatives, the IRCTC has also launched provision of hand sanitizers in prepaid trains and this is provided to the travelling passengers before service of meal.

The Minister further said that the IRCTC has deployed supervisors for on-board monitoring of catering services. "The on board monitoring staff have been provided with pre-installed complaint or feedback monitoring application on mobile tablets. Further, CCTV cameras have been installed in base kitchens for real time monitoring," Gohain said.

"Sixteen base kitchens of the IRCTC have been up-graded with modern and mechanised equipments. Food safety supervisors have been deployed in IRCTC managed base kitchens for audit of food safety, hygiene and sampling of the cooked food and raw material," he said.

The Minister further said that the service trolleys have been introduced in Rajdhani and Duronto trains for smooth service and the IRCTC has also introduced the billing through POS machines in selected mobile units to avoid overcharging of meal by service providers.

"The railways has also introduced ready to eat meals in order to enable the passengers to have variety in meals in the train," he added.

KOSH Oats, an oats brand of Future Consumer Limited, has tied up with the catering service providers of Indian Railways for serving oats in select Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains.

This meal is available on select Rajdhani and Shatabdi train routes. They are served as a package with the ticket till August 14. During this association, parathas made using KOSH Wheat + Oats Atta will be served to approximately 4.5 lakh travellers. Additionally, the travellers will get an discount voucher of Rs.50 off on the brand.

Rahul Kansal, Head, Business Strategy and Marketing, Future Consumer Limited, “Railways serve fresh cooked meals to millions of travellers every day and we are extremely delighted to incorporate KOSH Oats in these meals.”

The Indian Railways has come with a new service that allows passengers to book their favourite fast food and get it delivered to their seats. Starting from 15 June, passengers onboard Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains will be able to pre-order meal from various popular food outlets such as McDonald’s, Domino’s and KFC.

Passengers can order their meal online, on phone or by SMS. The mandatory meals for these train journeys have also been made optional.

Passengers can order their food online on www.ecatering.irctc.co.in or call 1323 or SMS 'MEAL' followed by PNR number to 139 and place order.

To give more food options to passengers, Indian Railways has also tied up with various food chains like McDonald’s, KFC, Switz Foods, Only Alibaba, Dominos, Haldiram, Bikanerwala, Nirulas, Sagar Ratna and Pizza Hut.

To improve the standard of food being provided to passengers in trains, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), an arm of Indian Railways, proposes to start six fast food units in Nagpur division of Central Railway.

Ahad Siddiqui, Amrea Manager (catering services), IRCTC, said, "These units will be set up at Ajni, Ballarshah, Wardha, Dhamangaon, Chandrapur and Sevagram railway stations."

Under the new catering policy issued by the Railway Board on February 27 this year, IRCTC has been mandated to carry out the unbundling by creating a distinction primarily between food preparation and food distribution.

IRCTC officials said, "In order to upgrade quality of food preparation, IRCTC will set up new kitchens and upgrade existing ones in Nagpur and Ballarshah."

They said currently the focus is on mobile catering aboard trains across the entire Indian Railways.

Siddiqui said, "We have taken over 76 passenger trains including 40 mail/express and remaining premium trains like Rajdhani and Duronto where licencees have been appointed on pantry cars and food is also made available on mobiles. In Nagpur 15 quality food providers have been appointed."

IRCTC officials said all four base kitchens under departmental operation of Central Railway zone (Nagpur, CSTM, Mumbai Central and Ballarshah) and all kitchen units, refreshment rooms at A1 and A category stations, Jan Ahaar, cell kitchens are to be handed over to IRCTC on ‘as is where is basis’. IRCTC will set up its own kitchens at additional stations, if required.

The Railways has decided to entrust the task of food delivery on board trains to some reputed hospitality company with an aim of improving the catering services.

This was stated by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu in the Lok Sabha while replying to questions on the food supplied on board the trains amid complaints of poor quality.

While IRCTC, the catering PSU of the Railways, will be responsible for the base kitchens, the task of delivery of food to the passengers will be given to leading companies in the hospitality sector, he said.

He said clean potable water is now available across various stations at reasonable prices.

During his replies, he referred to a catering contract issued in 2010, when Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was the Railways Minister.

This was objected to by Trinamool Congress members, leading to heated exchanges between the members of the party and those of the BJP.

His attention was drawn to an incident on board Rajdhani train at Sealdah yesterday when some passengers complained of upset stomach after consuming food served on board.

Responding to it, Prabhu said based on newspaper reports, the contract of the vendor has been terminated.

Fruit juice player, Manpasand Beverages is eyeing a significant growth in its revenues through Indian Railways in the coming months. The Company is looking to expand its presence in all stations pan India in the coming fiscal year. Currently, railways contribute 20-22 percent to their overall revenue.

The company is targeting 50-60 percent growth in sales in the next five years.

Manpasand’s flagship brand, ‘Mango Sip,’ is available in all major formats of IRCTC. The Company is now focusing on aggressively expanding the presence of ‘Fruits Up’ across entire Indian Railways network.

Dhirendra Singh, Chairman and MD, Manpasand Beverages, said, "Manpasand Beverages has a long-standing association with Indian railways via ‘Mango Sip,’ which is available across all major formats of IRCTC. Given the penetration of Indian Railways, we hope that our association with them will enhance the visibility of all our products among a wider range of customers."

It has tied up with IRCTC for direct selling to vendors as well as with its e-catering service to sell their brands.

The company which had sales of about Rs 556 crore in FY-16 has entered into strategic alliances in both on-trade and off-trade formats in order to expand its business in the urban areas. The company’s brands are available at METRO Cash & Carry, Baskin-Robbin, SAPR and other major organised retail chains.

Manpasand is also setting up four new plants in the next 12-18 months period to increase its capacity. The new plants will double the production capacity as well as help the company reach out to newer markets, especially in north-eastern and southern India.

It already has two manufacturing facilities at Vadodara in Gujarat, one each at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh and Dehradun in Uttaranchal and a new one is being set up at Ambala in Haryana.

Manpasand’s beverage brands are present in 24 states through more than 200,000 retailers, over 2000 distributors and 200 plus super stockists.

After tasting a great success in major cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata TravelKhana.com, a platform that enables food ordering for travellers in transit, has expanded its network in the Southern India region with 20 new stations . The online food ordering podium now has over 200 stations on its ever-expanding network in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.

Based on the concept of virtual QSR, TravelKhana records a large number of its orders through its mobile app. With its expansion into Southern India, travellers in the region can now download the TravelKhana app on their mobile phones and access it in an offline mode with an assurance that their transactions will be completed within 30 seconds. TravelKhana will detect the forthcoming train trips to railway stations like Belgaum, Chennai Central, Ernakulam town, Gunatakal Jn, etc. to offer quick access to trip-related information and will facilitate the customers in booking their favourite food for their journey.

Pushpinder Singh, Co-Founder & CEO, TravelKhana commented, “TravelKhana has garnered a niche market and acts as a preferred food distributor that offers immense choice to its consumers. By expanding our network in the southern part of the country, we now aim to tap maximum travellers on these routes and offer extensive cuisine choices to them, ensuring a delightful travel experience.”

TravelKhana which has integrated its services with IRCTC is making it possible for travellers to get access to lip-smacking fare prepared by various restaurants in route on their journey. All the restaurants are selected and verified by TravelKhana.com personnel across various stations. The entire process is managed by a completely automated workflow that sends real-time reminders to passengers as well as restaurants so that the entire process can take place in a seamless and swift manner. 

In a boomerang shift, Indian Railways has gone back to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to handle the catering business in trains. In the recent development, IRCTC will empanel firms which will supply ‘Ready To Eat’ (RTE) meals to the commuters at reasonable rates. On July 6, Railway Board asked IRCTC to shortlist firms to supply RTE products to provide variety, quality and hygienic meals at affordable rates to the passengers.

The firm once empaneled, will have a validity of five years. In order to bring in more transparency, IRCTC will regularly update the information about these firms on its website. The decision seems to be as per the rail budget (2016-17) announcement stating IRCTC would begin to manage catering service in a phased manner.

Speaking about the move, Girish Pillai, Additional Member (tourism and catering) Railway Board, said that Railways is looking into totality of the issue and IRCTC will take over catering services in phases. However, a policy decision will be taken soon. The railways had taken over catering services from IRCTC as per the provisions of Catering Policy, 2010, as the corporation could not professionalize catering services and did not perform well.

IRCTC still doesn't have enough staff to efficiently manage a huge catering business. Thus, after taking over the base kitchens, it plans to rope in food majors in the city who will supply RTE food based on e-orders, revealed officials.

Elaborating further on the subject, a source informed that soon IRCTC will be taking over two kitchens of Nagpur Division of Central Railways located at Nagpur and Ballarshah. With the help of these two kitchens, IRCTC will be catering food to the railway commuters with the help of private parties. 

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Cooperation (IRCTC) has appointed ZoopIndia as one of its official Food Aggregator for ordering scrumptious food in train journeys. Following the appointment, the technology startup is slated to enhance passengers’ convenience by delivering sumptuous food right at their seats.

As the startup is focused on revolutionising the Indian Railway Catering and allow passengers to select from a wide assortment of delicacies, it could be a good partnership for IRCTC to provide onboard passengers scrumptious delights.

“ZoopIndia aims to reform the food catering in Indian Railways by introducing advanced technologies and systems. Since, we are always looking forward to offering our customers a delightful experience, appointing ZoopIndia as food aggregator is a step forward in the same direction. We are affirmative that their appointment will help us provide a more memorable and indulging experience to our users,” shared Dr. A. K. Manocha, CMD, IRCTC.

Backed by an innovative in-house technology and contemporary IT systems, ZoopIndia enables passengers to select from Veg or Non-Veg Thalis, South Indian, Chinese Cuisines and a delightful collection of snacks and fast food options. Subsequently, passengers can make long journeys fun, filled with delectable food and indulging convenience.

Commenting on the partnership, Rakesh Sharma, Board Member, ZoopIndia, shared, “At ZoopIndia, we have strived to take food delivery to the next level, by introducing it in the Indian railways. We are hopeful that our appointment as food aggregator of IRCTC will help modernize Indian railways and contribute towards the ultimate convenience and ease of passengers.”

Succeeding the appointment, ZoopIndia has already crossed the level of serving 10,000 meals per month across different rail routes, being present at 100 PAN India stations. The startup has set its eyes firm on further enhancing the platform and eventually serving 5000 meals a day. 

IRCTC is strongly participating with the food majors and e-catering service providers to speed up the food delivery system in train. In a bid to strengthen the same, the group has tied up with TravelKhana for providing food to the customers on train.

TravelKhana.Com services will soon be available on IRCTC's e-catering website as the necessary arrangements have been firmed up for this, said a senior IRCTC official involved with e-catering.

TravelKhana is a dedicated service provider for the passengers on the move.

There are about 70 vendors till now who have tied up with IRCTC to supply food at stations and non-pantry trains across the country.

TravelKhana CEO Pushpinder Singh said, "It is indeed an honour for us to be working with Railways through IRCTC as the partner of choice on their site. The arrangement will allow the passengers to be able to avail the service of their choice, rather than be limited and constrained by the licensed food suppliers."

Travelkhana will start its services at the New Delhi and Nizammudin railway stations on the E-catering system and has expressed its interest in starting its services on a total of 17 stations in the first phase.

Currently e-catering is available in about 1500 non-pantry trains and 45 stations. About 700 meals are being booked in a day through IRCTC e-catering site.

As per the procedure, a passenger orders through the website, mobile app or over the phone, and selects the food of his choice from those listed restaurants.

Under the arrangement, Travelkhana's listing will be available for travellers using the IRCTC's e-catering website.

Both IRCTC and TravelKhana are working on integrating the service platforms so that the revenue sharing arrangement works as a part of the recent policy announced by the Railways.

RI Bureau

foodpanda, India’s largest online food ordering platform proposes to associate with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the Indian railways.

The association will enable consumers to order meals of their choice through foodpanda’s aggregator model, and allow them to order from a wide variety of cuisine options.

To ensure that food reaches consumers in the best condition, foodpanda will deploy its own delivery fleet to fulfil all deliveries.

Speaking about the association, foodpanda CEO Saurabh Kochhar, Said, “Foodpanda is an innovative business model which caters to an important consumer need. Our association with IRCTC will be an offering which addresses a huge consumer need prevailing for years. For long, consumers had limited food options to choose from while travelling with Indian railways but the newly launched e-catering service by IRCTC (approved by Ministry of Railways) is set to change the way Indians eat while travelling. We are excited to begin action with the Delhi station by December and are looking forward to extending this offering to other stations like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai in due course of time.”

The pilot of this proposed association is being planned to be launched at the New Delhi Railway station and after successful roll out in the metro city, the service will be extended to more cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai in due course of time.

he customers will have the choice to order meals at-least 2 hours in advance of the travel. The delivery will be aligned to the train arrival time at the station and consumers can pay for the order in advance online or make on the spot cash payment as per their convenience.

Robin Kalita, Director, Catering Services, IRCTC, “At IRCTC, it has been our endeavour to extend best possible services to our passengers. Food forms a very important part of the travel experience and IRCTC takes immense care to offer healthy and hygienic food to its travellers on-board. With progressing times, we aim to offer wider choices to our consumers and are extremely thankful to foodpanda to have offered partnership with us. We are happy that we will be able to offer wider food choices to our consumers with this association and once our pilot project is successful, we will extend the service to more locations.”

Hello Curry, food start-up announced its association with IRCTC online ticketing system for railways, to supply rail passengers with "wholesome healthy meal options" during their journey by placing orders on IRCTC website (www.ecatering.irctc.co.in).

"With Hello Curry selling Biryanis and parathas with our array of curry pots in our award-winning packaging, passengers now have access to complete Indian meals on the train", said Raju Bhupati Hello Curry Founder & CEO.

Hello Curry menu would be available for all the passengers boarding different trains at Secunderabad station.

Plans are going on to offer the Hello Curry menu for passengers from Delhi, Bengaluru, Vizag and Pune "very soon", said the home delivery brand.

Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation which is working hard to serve the best food to the passengers in train has joined hand with KFC after successfully delivering the Domino’s pizza to passengers in train.

According to the release issued by KFC, there are 12 facility available on trains passing through New Delhi railway station and will be expanded to Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad (Kacheguda) and Bengaluru (Yeshwantpur) stations over the next 10 days.

The service will initially be limited to trains, which lack pantry cars and subsequently be expanded to trains such as, the Rajdhani and Duronto.

Consumers will have to visit the IRCTC website or call a toll free number to place their order.

"It's still early days and we will take time to scale up. The sheer number of people that travel by train is an interesting proposition for us,” shared Dhruv Kaul, CMO, KFC India.

Meanwhile IRCTC is also in talks with other fast food chains including Pizza Hut, Subway to start delivery on train.

Lite Bite Foods, owned by Dabur Scion Amit Burman has partnered with IRCTC (The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) to offer scrumptious and high quality cuisines in train.

The restaurant will offer food at a budget price to commuters travelling by Indian Railways.

“We are delighted to tie up with Indian Railways; we look forward to cater passengers across the country with best of our delicacies. Every passenger can now opt for his/her favourite cuisine, who earlier preferred to munch chips and biscuits than buying food on the train,” said Rohit Aggarwal, Director, Lite Bite Foods.

The services will be offered at New Delhi, Nizamudddin, Old Delhi and Delhi Cantt railway stations

The tie up is a part of IRCTC’s endeavor to offer varied cuisines to passengers to choose from its newly launched e-catering service.

Railway passengers can now relish the delicious north Indian thali by Street Foods by Punjab Grill.

A passenger can order either by logging on to IRCTC’s E-Catering website (http://ecatering.irctc.co.in/eCatering/) or through IRCTC’s toll-free number 1800-1034-139 and 0120-2383892-99 or an SMS to 139 giving details of their PNR and seat number.

“We also plan to extend the service to more stations gradually and introduce kiosks of Lite Bite Foods’ core brands (Punjab Grill, Baker Street, Asia 7) at various Railway Stations,” added Sharad Sachdeva, CEO, Lite Bite Foods.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has recently identified 1,144 more trains for extension of its e-catering service, which allows passengers to get the food of their choice from leading food chains delivered to their seat via online or SMS booking.

With this tie up, Lite Bite Foods has expanded its presence and entered the railways, the company was earlier awarded the food & beverage concessions at Mumbai Airport and New Delhi Airport and has set up Street Food by Punjab Grill, Baker Street and also operates various other brands at the airports such as – Pizza Hut, KFC, Krispy Kreme and 4700 BC.

Indian railways plans to launch chic urban restaurants that will serve mouthwatering delicacies such as, railway mutton curry, Madras Club qorma, mulligatawny soup, and much more.

R N Kalita, Director, Catering Services, IRCTC, said, “Apart from nostalgic gourmet food, the restaurants will also deliver an authentic railway dining experience including vintage memorabilia, restored steam engines and the works. We are in the process of finalizing a few things.”

IRCTC also plans to tap the Indian food services market pegged at Rs 76,000 crore which is growing at a CAGR of 11 percent.