Railways to ensure good quality food in trains

As part of efforts to revamp its services, the Indian Railways have decided to take over the catering charge of two prestigious trains from Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation.

The move, which could set the ground for effecting a major change in the catering service of railways, will be implemented in a Duronto and a Rajdhani express train originating from Sealdah and Howrah.

Initially, Railways will only supervise the catering services in these two trains till it has its own staff in place, railway officials said. During this transition phase, IRCTC will handle catering operations.

IRCTC has come under mounting criticism for the quality of food served on trains. IRCTC MD R K Tandon has said that it received nearly 4,000 complaints about the quality of food and has initiated action in 500 cases so far.

They have realised penalty of Rs 1.04 crore (Rs 10.4 million) from contractors. A subsidiary of Railways, IRCTC handles catering service in 260 trains through outsourcing while it does catering in 16 trains, including five Rajdhanis and five Durontos, on its own.

Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee had said in her Budget speech that the "catering policy was under revision and would be finalised as early as possible."