Railways to resume on-board catering services, provide bed linens and blankets soon
courtesy: ETNOWNEWS
Railways to resume on-board catering services, provide bed linens and blankets soon
IRCTC, which provides catering facilities to Indian Railways, wants the catering service to be restored. It also has plans to introduce fresh meals instead of packaged food to passengers.
Key Highlights
- Railway personnel and passengers overwhelmingly demand reintroduction of food catering services, blankets and bed rolls onboard trains
- IRCTC is also expected to enhance its delivery network to enable fresh foods, prepared in the pantry, to be delivered to passengers instead of boxed meals.
- Railways conducted a survey among 20,000 passengers which found 80% wanted fresh food instead of boxed meals
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the state-run company that provides services like ticketing, and tourism services to the Indian Railways, may soon restore on-board catering services and other amenities.
Sources told Kundan Singh of Times Now Navbharat that the Railways is considering restarting the services, which were suspended in view of Covid-19 restrictions. The decision is likely due to heavy demand from travellers and even railway personnel for these basic facilities onboard passenger trains.
IRCTC is also expected to enhance its delivery network to enable fre
IRCTC is also expected to enhance its delivery network to enable fresh foods, prepared in the pantry, to be delivered to passengers instead of boxed meals.
Stakeholders also worry that the continued closure of catering services —the mainstay of IRCTC’s business —might affect the company’s stock price. The food catering business of the PSU company remains shuttered for almost 18 months now following the Covid-19 pandemic. It faces pressure to restart the services to avoid any losses to the company, in which the government of India is a major stakeholder.
IRCTC is also expected to enhance its delivery network to enable fresh foods, prepared in the pantry, to be delivered to passengers instead of boxed meals.
Stakeholders also worry that the continued closure of catering services —the mainstay of IRCTC’s business —might affect the company’s stock price. The food catering business of the PSU company remains shuttered for almost 18 months now following the Covid-19 pandemic. It faces pressure to restart the services to avoid any losses to the company, in which the government of India is a major stakeholder.
The Railways also conducted a survey around its catering services. The survey conducted among 20,000 passengers found that 80% preferred cooked food over packaged meals.
The Passenger Amenities Committee (PAC), a statutory organisation body under the Ministry of Railways, which was formed to take care of passenger facilities, visited different railway stations and sought feedback from personnel and commuters. It found that there is heavy demand for restoring catering services and reintroduction of linen blankets in trains before winters.
The suspension of catering services also affected the employment of lakhs of people. As per one figure, almost 5 lakh people were directly or indirectly affected by the decision to suspend these services.
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