One of the things every train traveler wonders about is: what kind of food will he or she get in the train? If you are in India, this question holds greater relevance. For years, Indian trains have been famous or rather infamous for their bad food; but the scenario is changing. Today, you cannot say Indian travel food services are not good.
IRCTC’s initiative has bore fruit
With the new catering policy in place from February 2017, a lot has undergone a sweeping change in the Indian railways catering service. The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is now empowered to provide excellent food services to train travelers.
Food choices
For those who do not wish to eat regular meals from pantry cars of trains can order food online from some of the most reputable food brands of the country. They are in collaboration with IRCTC to provide hot, tasty meals to passengers on their train seats.
The procedure is simple: you log on to IRCTC’s official website and open the catering section. You choose the food vendor. You choose the food menu. You place an order. You can either pay online, or pay at the time of food delivery in cash.
Although Indians are famous for carrying home food while traveling in train, it is not always feasible for everybody to pack home-cooked food. Moreover, your home food may get spoiled in case of long distance travel. In such a situation, you are left with no food and may have to do with local snacks or biscuits from platform vendors.
With online food services, you need not worry about being left with no food. You can easily order food in a few clicks and eat to your heart’s content. Famous brands like KFC, Haldiram’s, Dominos, Food Panda, Pizza Hut, and more have come forward to be a part of IRCTC’s initiative of e-catering.
Train food is now a delight
Food in train is not limited to boring thalis that consist of cold chapattis (a kind of Indian bread made of wheat), some tasteless sabzi (vegetables) and dal (lentils), and a packaged curd. You can order hot, crusty pizzas, burgers, Chinese dishes, Italian recipes, Indian dosas and idlis, and lots more. Moreover, the plain old thali that used to serve cold food is now replaced with hot, soft chapattis, hot sabzi and dal, and good quality curd.
Train travelers these days are spoilt of choices when it comes to food. When your favorite brand serves food you feel more at home while traveling.
Travel food services in India are undergoing a paradigm shift thanks to growing awareness of passengers and a boost in Indian tourism. Foreigners who wish to get a taste of raw India travel in regular trains. They must get good food lest it creates a bad impression about the country. The Railway Ministry has woken up to this fact.
So, the next time you board a train in India, worry not about food. You will get it right at your seat – hot and fresh and of your choice.