Travelling by Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto on October 2? IRCTC to serve you only vegetarian meals!

Indian Railways passengers travelling in pre-paid trains (those in which you pay in advance for the food) on October 2, that is Gandhi Jayanti, are likely to be served only vegetarian meals. According to an IRCTC official that Financial Express Online spoke to, a direction on this is awaited from the Railway Board. “The decision to serve only vegetarian food on October 2 was taken for three years 2017, 2018 and 2019 as a mark of respect on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. We are awaiting final orders from the Railway Board on this, most probably we will get them by next week,” the official told FE Online. This decision will be implemented for Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto Express trains in which meals are included in the train ticket price. The standard vegetarian menu for these trains will be valid on Gandhi Jayanti as well, the only change is that non-vegetarian food will not be served, the official said.

What about journeys commencing on October 1, and spilling onto October 2? “For journeys that start on October 1, we will serve non-vegetarian food on that day, but on October 2 we will serve only vegetarian meals,” the IRCTC official clarified. In case of journeys starting on October 2 and continuing till the next day, non-vegetarian food will be served on October 3.

Incidentally, earlier this year IRCTC had completely revamped its meals menu for these premium category of trains – Rajdhani and Duronto Express. The quantity of meals served to passengers was reduced and the focus was said to be on quality. While in the vegetarian meals, the quantity of dal was reduced and a mixed vegetable was introduced, in case of non-vegetarian meals it was decided that only boneless chicken would be served instead of leg pieces. IRCTC is also planning to introduce aircraft-like combo meals on Shatabdi Express trains. Over the next few years, the new menu will be implemented as and when the contractor’s term ends for a particular train.

Additionally, to maintain better hygiene standards for food preparation and serving, IRCTC has started a pilot programmes of monitoring kitchen operations through CCTV cameras, use aritifical intelligence-based system to identify presence of insects and rodents in the kitchen, food trolleys and hand sanitizers in trains.