Introduction

As we all know, railways are a major part of the common mans life. So is food.

The need arose for good food to be served to passengers on trains especially if they have a long and arduous journey ahead of them.

Today, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the railways.

History of railway catering

Before the introduction of a mobile catering system, food was packed from homes and sent with the traveler.

September 27th, 1999.

It was a great day. It was the day the IRCTC was formed. This has changed the lives of millions of people due to the requirement of extra manpower, and has made it more convenient for the countless railway travelers throughout the year.

Having food provided during journeys not only lightens the passenger’s weight load but also allows them to buy food on the train, ensuring them their pre travel convenience.

Types of railway cateringTransit catering- this deals with food that is served to passengers while they are travelling. This is usually the case in superfast trains that don’t stop often because the journey is short.

Terminal Catering- At every station there are food establishments where passengers can get down when the train breaks to eat food.

In both cases, the IRCTC outsources the food to certain companies who are legally bound by contracts and tenders

to serve high quality food.

How its done

The IRCTC looks at all the applicants for catering and selects a few. They then work out a contract/tender which the party is obliged to follow.

The caterers, based on the city and the railway stops, decide how best to serve food to the passengers.

There can either be one caterer in charge of one station (i.e they serve lunch and dinner to trains passing through) OR one caterer for a particular route. This is decided in accordance with the IRCTC’s approval.

There are usually base/central

kitchens at every station or along a

route that prepare the food in bulk

and package it if necessary.

This is then stored at proper

conditions and is loaded on to the

trains into their pantry when they

stop briefly.

The railway staff then serve this to

customers as per their request.

Functioning examples

Travelkhana is the pioneer railway catering service at major railway stations across India with over 1000 restarants.

Whether it is Pizza, Biryani, Non Veg food, Jain food or a Simple Thali in a Train - Travelkhana.com delivers them through its vast network

One can select the journey date, choose a restaurant and station of one’s choice and place an order right away. Their listed restaurants will readily accept group bookings for food across listed stations, and all orders are delivered right to one’s seat.

There are several similar startups like

Comesum.com, Merafoodchoice.com,

Yatrachef.com, Deliveryuncle.com, Raildarbar.com,

Trainkhana.com and so on.