RAILWAY CATERING

TUSHAR SOOD

M BATCH
THIRD YEAR

B.Sc HOSPITALITY STUDIES

D.Y. PATIL UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM
STUDIES
 RAILWAY CATERING

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements for the Degree of

BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
in
HOSPITALITY STUDIES
by
TUSHAR SOOD

M BATCH
THIRD YEAR
D.Y. PATIL UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM
STUDIES
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Tushar Sood of TY B.Sc Hospitality Studies has

satisfactorily completed his project work on Railway Catering. The
project represents his work during the academic year – 2018 ~ 2019.

Date –

Place - Mumbai

Faculty Incharge External Examiner

Director
 DECLARATION

I the undersigned solemnly declare that the research report

RAILWAY CATERING is based on my own work carried out during
the course of our study under the supervision of Chef Parth Padval.

Place : Navi Mumbai Signature of Student

Date :

Signature of Guide
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am indebted to D.Y. Patil University School of Hospitality and Tourism

Studies for giving me an excellent opportunity to carry out the present research
project. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Asst. Professor Vanitha
Sridhar , my research supervisors, for her patient guidance, enthusiastic
encouragement and useful critiques of this research work. I would also like to
thank my guide Chef Parth Padval, for his advice and assistance in keeping my
progress on schedule.
My heart felt gratitude to Director Ms. Vandana Mishra and esteemed faculty
for their professional guidance and valuable support and constructive
recommendations on this project.
Finally, I wish to thank my parents for their support and encouragement
throughout my study.

Place : Navi Mumbai Signature of Student

Date :

Signature of Guide
 TABLE OF CONTENT

S.NO TOPIC
1. INTRODUCTION
Statement of problem
Scope of Work
Review Of Literature
Objectives
IRCTC Catering Charges
2. METHODOLOGY
3. RESULTS
4. SUMMARY
5. CONCLUSION
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 RAILWAY CATERING

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) is a Public

Sector Enterprise under Ministry of Railways. IRCTC was incorporated on 27th
September, 1999 as an extended arm of the Indian Railways to upgrade,
professionalize and manage the catering and hospitality services at stations, on
trains and other locations and to promote domestic and international tourism
through development of budget hotels, special tour packages, information and
commercial publicity and global reservation systems.
IRCTC is also managing on Board Catering Services in some Rajdhani /
Shatabdi/Duronto/ Mail Express Trains and Static Catering Units such as Food
Plazas, Fast Food units across at Railway stations. IRCTC also has its business
presence in Non-Railway Catering at various Govt and private institutions.
Services provided by IRCTC:-
 Online ticketing
It is known for changing the face of railway ticketing in India and is among
the Miniratna companies of Central Indian government. Prior to its inception,
Indian railway passengers had little options for quality food during travel.
Passengers had to get off from trains at stations and buy sub-standard food from
station food stalls which were not known for hygiene. Trains stop for only few
minutes at stations and this added to rush & panic among travelers. After the
advent of IRCTC, pantry cars were introduced inside long or medium distance
trains which catered to passengers by serving freshly cooked quality food, thus
revolutionizing train travel in India. It pioneered internet-based rail ticket booking
through its website, as well as from the mobile phones via WiFi, GPRS or SMS.
It also provides SMS facility to check PNR status and Live Train Status as well.
In addition to e-tickets, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation also
offers I-tickets that are basically like regular tickets except that they are booked
online and delivered by post. The tickets PNR status is also made available.
Commuters on the suburban rail can also book season tickets through the
website. It has also launched a loyalty program called Shubh Yatra for frequent
travelers. Through this program, passengers can avail of discounts on all tickets
booked round the year by paying an upfront annual fee.
Seeking to make it easier to book e-tickets, It launched a scheme called Rolling
Deposit Scheme (RDS). RDS is an e-ticket booking scheme allowing passengers
to reserve seats against advance money kept with the corporation. It has also
added flights and hotels booking facilities to their line of online reservation
services.
Passengers are allowed to book tickets through e-ticketing all the day except from
11:45 pm to 12:20 am, following when IRCTC shut down its main server for 35
minutes for maintenance.
  Tatkal scheme
Under the Tatkal scheme, passengers who plan their journey at short notice can
book their tickets in almost all Mail/Express trains through the Indian railways
internet portal. The booking starts at 10:00 AM daily for AC coach reservation
and for Non-AC timing is residual to 11.00 AM, one day prior to the departure of
the train from source station. Tatkal E-ticket can be booked for selected trains one
day in advance excluding date of journey from the train originating station. It can
be booked on the opening day from 10:00 AM onwards for AC coach and 11:00
AM onwards for NON-AC. Passengers travelling on Tatkal tickets should carry
a photo ID proof along with them to be shown to the ticket checker. Earlier this
year, the website has launched Lite version which doesn't include ads, pop ups,
etc. and check PNR status.
 Tourism
Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation also organises budget and
deluxe package tours for domestic and foreign tourists. A popular tourism
package for budget tourists covering important tourist destinations across India is
called "Bharat Darshan". Luxury tourism packages are also available, that involve
special luxury trains such as Buddhist Circuit Train and Maharajas'
Express operation.
Apart from conventional tourism, it also offers adventure tourism packages that
include water sports, adventure and wildlife treks, etc. A provision for
customising tours as per specific requirements is also an added attraction.
Recently a new venture of Indian Railways, named as Rail Tourism India has
been launched to provide direct catering and tourism packages to users.
 INTRODUCTION

Background Information

Indian Railways (IR) started with a journey of 53 km between Mumbai and Thane
on April 16, 1853. Today, it has one of the largest rail networks in the world with
64,460 route kilometres of route length. It offers a cheap and affordable means of
transport to millions of passengers, hence playing a major role in the social and
the economic development of the country. According to Indian Railways
Yearbook 2010-11, Indian Railways carried about 21 million passengers daily.

The sheer volume of passenger traffic implicates upon the Indian Railways to
have an effective passenger services policy. Catering on Indian Railways is of
utmost importance and recognising this as one of the most important passenger
amenities is essential. The Railways realise this and have incorporated their
responsibility in the ‘Citizen’s Charter on Passenger Services in Indian
Railways’. The charter promises providing of catering services through mobile
and static units.
Catering/vending services on Indian Railways consists of following
facilities:-
Refreshment rooms, restaurants, fast food centres/snack bars, tea stalls, fruit/fruit
juices stalls, cold and hot beverage dispensers, miscellaneous curio goods stalls,
ice-cream parlour etc. at railway stations.
Tea stalls at roadside stations.
Integrated on-board catering services on Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express trains.
Services through pantry cars on selected long and medium distance superfast/mail
and express trains.
Base kitchens to provide ready-made meals for on-board catering. (vi) On board
catering/vending services through static units (trains having no pantry cars).

The history of catering on Indian Railways has on the whole been marked by
irregular and frequent changes in principles and policies governing it. Right from
the inception, catering services on Indian Railways have been managed by private
parties. In 1915, ex-Bengal-Nagpur Railway (South Eastern Railway) introduced
western style catering by departmentally managed units. On Southern Railway,
departmental catering came up in 1920.

In 1954, Government set up Alagesan Committee to review all aspects of

catering. The Committee recommended that Railways with no departmental
catering should start with an experiment with an economic departmental catering
organisation so as to set the standard and service as a model. Consequent to this,
other railways introduced departmental catering.

In 1967, Ministry of Railways appointed a Committee named “Railway Catering

and Passenger Amenities Committee” under the Chairmanship of then Minster of
State for Railways, the Committee made the following recommendation:
Railways should consolidate their existing catering service and effect an
improvement in their quality and services. Further, extension of departmental
catering may be contemplated after economy measures have become effective.
The present principle of running departmental catering on a ‘no profit no loss’
basis should be modified so as to provide a small profit of three to four per-cent
which should be ploughed back into the service
In 1979-80 then Minister of Railways in his Budget Speech made the following
announcement: “Formation of a Railway Catering Corporation as an
autonomous body under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways,
to take over the entire catering services on the Indian Railways, has been
suggested by several Members of Parliament and others. This will be examined
in depth”
Consequent to this announcement, a one-man Expert Committee on Railways
Catering was set up. The Committee recommended that time is not right to have
a separate Catering Corporation. However, this should be looked at a later date.
The Minister of Railways during his Budget Speech of 1991-92 had announced
privatisation of catering services on the Railways. Consequent to this
announcement, a meeting of Chief Commercial Superintendents (CCMs) was
held in Railway Board’s Office on 14.10.1991. Following decisions were taken:
In future no catering/vending units should be taken up for departmental
management and all new units both static and mobile should be managed by
licensees only.

Although existing departmental units could be privatised keeping in view the

various problems involved, mostly the staff problem, the privatisation has to be
undertaken in phases.
It was in the year 1999 that Railways finally decided to hive off catering of the
Indian Railways to a Corporation and a note for Cabinet was put up before the
Cabinet Committee to this effect. The Union Cabinet on 27 th March, 1999
approved that the catering activity of Railways, whether Departmental or
franchised, should be completely hived off to the new corporation along with the
staff, and the railways, should divest itself of this function. Hence, a corporate
entity Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) was set
up under the Companies Act, 1956 on 27th September, 1999 as a public sector
company under the administrative control of Ministry of Railways.
IRCTC became fully functional from 1st August, 2001 after setting up the
functional Board. The corporation, through its efficient planning and managing,
changed the face of catering industry in Railways and by the year 2009-10, sales
turnover of departmental catering was ` 150.06 crore and the license fees realized
from the catering/vending contractors was 205.21 crore.
However, in the railway budget of 2010, a new catering policy was formulated.
It revised the role of agency of management of catering services on Indian
Railways. According to the new policy, catering services (except Food Plazas,
Food Courts and Fast Food Units) will be managed by Zonal Railways
departmentally, instead of IRCTC, in a phased manner. However, IRCTC would
continue to be a service provider to the Indian Railways and shall be responsible
for managing the premium and high end outlets like Food Plazas, Food Courts
and Fast Food Units including institutional catering present outside the Railways.

During the year 2010-11, catering services were provided through approximately
11,237 static catering units and in 291 pairs of trains through pantry cars and in
136 trains through train side vending. 51 departmental catering units were
operational under Zonal Railways and 721 under IRCTC. Private licensees under
Zonal Railways and IRCTC operated 10,521 and 371 catering units respectively.
Main Problems, their scope and impact on the society
The Indian Railways (IR) network connects areas across the length and breadth
of the country. The passengers travelling represent the broad diversity of the
country – regional diversity, cultural diversity and financial diversity. Due to the
vast diversity of the country, food cuisine changes as one travels from one region
to another.
The catering services providers have to take into account the diversity of the
passengers and provide services that would be appreciable by all. However, there
are many faults in the planning and managing of the system which leads to
consumer dissatisfaction.
Some of the highlighting issues that are prominent in the delivery of the
catering services in Indian Railways are:

Infrastructure
in the base
kitchen and
Panty Cars.

Food Quality
Unauthorized
and Hygiene
Vending
issues.
Problems
Faced in
Railway
Catering
Catering Waste
Staff
Management
Misbehaviour
System

Passenger
feedback
management
system

Figure 1: Nature of problems faced by passengers in Railway Catering.

  Infrastructure Development
The Base Kitchens have not been renovated from a long time. Most of them were
constructed during the colonial times and in the early years after independence.
There is a need for developing these kitchens according to modern standards –
ISO 22000.
The storage measures adopted in the base kitchen is an area of concern. Separate
storage and cooking of vegetarian and non-vegetarian raw food items should be
followed. Storage of water used for cooking is another issue that is important as
contaminated water is an easy source of spreading diseases.

 Food Quality and Hygiene

This is by far the most important issue to be looked into. A lot of complaints
concern with the quality of the food provided. In addition, there are many
complaints regarding the food hygiene. Some of the components that constitute
in the food quality and hygiene services are:
Quantity of food: Many passengers complain that the quantity of food was
insufficient to their expectation.
Variety of food: Passengers, mostly who travel in long distance trains often
complain about the same menu being served during all travels. They expect the
variety in the food provided to them.
Hygiene level: This is one aspect which attracts most number of complaints.
There are a lot of questions raised by the passengers on the food not adhering to
the proper standards.
Packaging: Improper packaging often attracts a lot of criticism.
Timing of meal: Often, when the train runs late, the timing of meal gets delayed
and hence, it causes a negative impression of the Railway catering services.
Temperature of Meal: Meals served cold often lead to criticism of the catering
facilities on-board and off-board cater
Speed of delivery: The time frame from placing of the order and delivery of the
services is crucial.

 Staff Misbehaviour
The railway staff, particularly servicing and cleaning staff has the same
responsibility as any other staff in the multinational food chains and are expected
to be polite and answerable to all the queries raised by the passengers. But often,
it is found that the staffs abuse the person instead of clarifying his doubts/queries.

 Overpricing
Selling of food items at higher price than their Market Retail Price (MRP) is very
prevalent in the trains. Due to lack of alternatives, the passenger has no other
alternative but to buy the food items at overpriced rates.

 Vending Stalls selling more items than they are assigned

The vending stalls have a license of selling an item of a particular brand. The
brand is being decided by the tender system. But there have been instances where
the shopkeeper keeps goods of other brands too in order to increase their sales.

 No Provision of Mid-Career Training/ Professional

Ethics
Once an employee is recruited into the service, there is no program for inculcating
the professional ethics in them after a few years of service. This is one of the
reasons for slow pace of work and staff misbehaviour.
  Feedback Management System
A very crystal clear feedback registry system was developed by the IRCTC.
Feedback facility is available through telephone, SMS and web. There is also a
register that is maintained by the authorities working at the pantry car. But the
procedure for addressing a complaint is not very certain. In addition, actions on
the service providers incase of repeated complaints against them have to be done.

 Waste Management System

Leftovers and other catering waste have to be properly disposed of. In general,
waste is being thrown out of the trains. This causes degradation in the quality of
the tracks. It is also harmful for the families residing near the railway tracks.
Railways suffer a lot of losses due to degradation in the quality of the tracks. In
railway stations, catering waste is being thrown on the tracks which cause
perception of the cleanliness of the station to decline. Also, a mechanism for
proper waste disposal according to the type of waste- biodegradable, non-
biodegradable and recyclable has to be formed.

 Effective Pest Control

Techniques to prevent pests have to be implemented uniformly over all the base
kitchens, Pantry Cars and other Vending Stalls.
Review Of Literature

 Kumar Navodit Manav researched on Evaluation of Services provided by

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited in the year
2013 and it was concluded as after a slight decline in growth in 2012,
India’s travel and tourism industry is rebounding with strong results for
2013 and it is expected to continue in the near future.
 B Kanaka analysed IRCTC's supply chain and assess how it would utilize
the existing supply chain to fuel further growth in its new business ventures
and the case study was published by Amity Research Centers in the year
2013.
 Dr. U. Srinivasa Rao researched on Passenger Satisfaction on Catering
Services of IRCTC, in the year 2018. It was published by International
Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering, Management & Applied
Science (IJLTEMAS) and it was concluded as IRCTC aims to provide
hygienic, good quality affordable food to the traveling public by adopting
best trade and hospitality industry practices.
 Dr. D. Antony Ashok Kumar had done a case study on IRCTC in the year
2016 and concluded it as Tourism, if planned, controlled and properly
monitored, can help in achieving the desired stages of development, but at
the same time it has tremendous possibilities to cause deleterious impacts
on the socio-cultural environment of the destination, if it grows unplanned
and uncontrolled.
Objectives
1. The objective of this project is to conduct a research study on the existing
policies and practices in the catering services and suggest measures that
can improve the facilities if the same.
2. The research mainly focuses on the policies implemented and the approach
followed by the ministry of railways in the last 10 years. The difference in
the policies on paper and practical implementation are to be taken into
consideration and remedies for the same are to be suggested.
3. To learn and observe about the catering trends and procedures followed in
INDIAN RAILWAY.
4. To observe the set of rules and regulations given by the IRCTC to its
partners or catering contractors for operating the business of on board
catering or on station catering.
 GOVERNMENT EFFORTS

Indian Railway announced through the press release that to improve the standard
of food being provided to passengers in trains, new Catering Policy has been
issued on 27th February 2017 wherein inter-alia IRCTC has been mandated to
carry out the un bundling by creating a distinction primarily
between food preparation and food distribution. In order to upgrade quality of
food preparation, IRCTC is to set up new kitchens and upgrade existing ones. The
salient features of the new Catering Policy 2017 are as under :-
 IRCTC to manage catering service on all mobile units. Pantry car contracts
awarded by zonal railway to be reassigned to IRCTC.
 Meals for all mobile units to be picked up from the nominated kitchens
owned, operated and managed by IRCTC.
 IRCTC not to outrightly outsource or issue licenses for provision of
catering services to private licensees. IRCTC to retain the ownership and
be fully accountable for all the issues pertaining to setting up and operation
of the Base Kitchens and quality of food.
 IRCTC to engage service providers from hospitality industry for service of
food in trains.
 All four Base Kitchens under departmental operation of Zonal Railways
(Nagpur, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CSTM) , Mumbai Central (BCT)
and Balharshah) and all kitchen units i.e. Refreshment Rooms at A1 and A
category stations, Jan Ahaar, Cell Kitchens are to be handed over to IRCTC
on ‘as is where is basis’. IRCTC to set up its own Kitchens at additional
stations, if required.
 Kitchen structures/land/space to be handed over by zonal Railways to
IRCTC, for a period of 10 years extendable for another period of 5 years,
on a token license fee.
 IRCTC to be responsible for management of Food Plaza, Food Courts, Fast
food units within the ambit of this policy.
 The setting up/ development / refurbishment of new or existing Base
Kitchens/Kitchen units to be undertaken by IRCTC. These kitchens are to
be owned, operated and managed by IRCTC.
 IRCTC to develop different types of kitchens keeping in view supply of
food and usage assessed.
 IRCTC to develop the Business model for the kitchens so that they can
expand and enhance the service. IRCTC to prepare a detailed concession
agreement for setting up/development of the kitchens.
 Zonal railway to manage static unit (catering stall /milk stalls/ trolleys etc.)
except base kitchens and kitchen units to be handed over to IRCTC .
 For the purpose of allotment, a Refreshment Room (at B and below
category stations) or a stall or a trolley to be deemed as one unit. As such,
a single unit is to be awarded through a single license.
 Provision of perpetual renewal has been done away with. Now it has been
envisaged that tenure of all static units (except kitchen units and Food
Plaza) shall be 5 years only. Tenure of Food Plaza shall be for a period of
9 years.
 Allotments of General Minor Units at all category stations to be done
through open, competitive, two-packet tendering system from the eligible
bidders by divisions.
 For the first time, it has been envisaged that allotment of Special Minor
units (reserved category) at all category stations will be done by divisions
through open tendering system within the similar reserved category. The
technical eligibility criteria has been simplified.
 IRCTC CATERING CHARGES

Indian Railway published Items, Menu, Quantity and Rates of breakfast

, meals etc supplied by railway in Mail/Express
trains, Duronto / Rajdhani / Shatabdi Express trains etc in its official website for
controlling the illegal practice of over charging the food items. Following are the
details of IRCTC latest food menu catering policy rates.

GST : REVISED CATERING CHARGES BY INDIAN RAILWAY

Applicability of GST on Catering Services
Indian Railway revised the catering Charges of Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto trains
and other similar type of Rajdhani trains where catering charges are inbuilt in
ticket fare, railway announced through a circular on 29.06.2017.
The chargeable GST on catering services on Railway are
 For static units not having facility of AC or Central heating at any time
during the year – 12% with full Input Tax Credit (ITC)
 For static units having facility of AC or Central heating at any time
during the – 18% with full ITC
 For Rajdhani/Shatabdi/Duronto and other Mail/Express trains – 18%
with full Input Tax Credit
 GST on Catering Services of other premium trains like Tejas, Gatiman,
Shivalik etc shall be levied at 18%
The GST on catering Charges is applicable w.e.f 01.07.2017. Following are the
details.
  1AC/EC

CATERING
CATERING
CHARGES
CATERING CHARGES
TO BE
CHARGES TO BE
INCLUDED
DISBURSED AMOUNT DISBURSED
TYPE OF IN THE
TO THE OF GST TO THE
SERVICE TICKET
LICENSE AT 18% LICENSEE
FARE
(WITHOUT (INCLUSIVE
INCLUSIVE
GST) OF GST AT
OF GST AT
18%)
18%

Morning Tea 12.5 2.25 14.75 15

Breakfast 81.5 14.67 96.17 100

Lunch/Dinner 129.5 23.31 152.81 155

Evening Tea
where dinner 41 7.38 48.38 50
is served

Evening Tea
where dinner 66.5 11.97 78.47 80
is not served

Combo Meal 66.5 11.97 78.47 80

  2A/3A/CC

CATERING
CATERING
CHARGES
CATERING CHARGES
TO BE
CHARGES TO BE
INCLUDED
DISBURSED AMOUNT DISBURSED
TYPE OF IN THE
TO THE OF GST TO THE
SERVICE TICKET
LICENSE AT 18% LICENSEE
FARE
(WITHOUT (INCLUSIVE
INCLUSIVE
GST) OF GST AT
OF GST AT
18%)
18%

Morning Tea 8 1.44 9.44 10

Breakfast 66.5 11.97 78.47 80

Lunch/Dinner 112 20.16 132.16 135

Evening Tea 40 7.2 47.2 50

Combo Meal 66.5 11.97 78.47 80

  SL(Duronto)

CATERING
CATERING
CHARGES
CATERING CHARGES
TO BE
CHARGES TO BE
INCLUDED
DISBURSED AMOUNT DISBURSED
TYPE OF IN THE
TO THE OF GST TO THE
SERVICE TICKET
LICENSE AT 18% LICENSEE
FARE
(WITHOUT (INCLUSIVE
INCLUSIVE
GST) OF GST AT
OF GST AT
18%)
18%

Morning Tea 6.5 1.17 7.67 10

Breakfast 34 6.12 40.12 45

Lunch/Dinner 71 12.78 83.78 85

Evening Tea 18 3.24 21.24 25

 In case of Mail/Express Trains, the charges of onboard catering of

Standard Meal Items will not change even after 1st July. They will
continue to be available on existing rates.
 In case of Rail Neer, the charges will remain unchanged.
 In case of static catering units on stations, the charges of Standard Meal
Items will not change. They will continue to be available on existing
rates.
 In case of Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Tejas etc train where catering
charges are included in the fare, the charges of catering component will
change/get modified as per new GST.
IRCTC FOOD MENU RATES

Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Cooperation (IRCTC) Standard Break

Fast and Meals latest Menu details are updating year by year. In this page you
will get latest Catering Menu for IRCTC Standard Foods.
STANDARD BREAKFAST (IN CASSEROLE) VEGETARIAN

All the Standard Vegetarian Food rates for the Static Menu (At Stations) as Rs.
25 and for the Mobile location (On Trains) Food Rate is Rs. 30 only. This is
applicable for all the following Menu items separate.
 Bread Butter and Cutlet : This Contains Veg. Cutlets-2 nos 100 gms. ,
2 bread slices with 10 gms butter chiplet of total weight 70 gms. ,
Tomato Ketchup sachet. Salt/Pepper 15 gms
 Idli and Vada : This contains Idli(4 nos.) 200 gms. , Urad Vada (4 nos.)
120 gms. ,Chutney packaged separately) 50 gms.
 Upma and Vada : This contains Upma 100 gms. ,Urad Vada (4 nos.)
120 gms., Chutney (packaged separately) 50 gms.
 Pongal and Vada : This contains Pongal 200 gms. , Urad Vada (4 nos.)
120 gms. , Chutney (packaged separately) 50 gms.

STANDARD BREAKFAST (IN CASSEROLE) NON – VEGETARIAN

 Standard Non – Vegetarian Food rates for the Static Menu (At
Stations) as Rs. 30 and for the Mobile location (On Trains) Food Rate
is Rs. 35 only.
 Bread , butter and omelet : This contains 2 bread slices with 10 gms.
butter in chiplet of total weight 70 gms. , Tomoto Ketchup
sachet/Salt/peeper 15 gms.
STANDARD CASSEROLE MEALS VEGETARIAN

All the Standard Vegetarian meals Food rates for the Static Menu (At Stations)
as Rs. 45 and for the Mobile location (On Trains) Food Rate is Rs. 50
only. Standard Meal Contains
 Rice Pulao or Jira Rice or plan Rice of fine quality 150 gms.
 Paratha (2 nos.) or Chapati (4 nos.) or Poories (5 nos.) 100 gms.
 Dal or Sambhar ( Thick consistency) 150 gms.
 Mixed Vegetable (seasonal) 100 gms.
 Curd -100 gms. or sweet 40 gms.
 Pickle in sachet 15 gms.
 Packaged drinking water in sealed glass 250 ml.

STANDARD CASSEROLE MEALS NON – VEGETARIAN

All the Standard Vegetarian meals Food rates for the Static Menu ( At Stations)
as Rs. 50 and for the Mobile Locations (On Trains) Food Rate is Rs. 55
only. Standard Non – Veg Meal Contains
 Rice Pulao or Jira Rice or plain Rice of fine quality 150 gms.
 Paratha (2 nos.) or Cahapati (4 nos.) or Poories (5 nos.) 100 gms.
 Dal or Sambhar (Thick consistency) 150 gms.
 Two eggs curry 200 gms.
 Curd -100 gms. or sweet 40 gms.
 Pickle in sachet 15 gms.
 Packaged drinking water in sealed glass 250 ml.
STANDARD THALI MEALS (ONLY IN REFRESHMENT ROOM)
1) Meals in Thalis (Veg.) : Contains following items with rate of Rs. 35 Only.
 Plain rice of fine quality
 Paratha (2 nos.) or Chapati (4 nos.) or Puris (5 nos.)
 Dal or Sambhar.
 Mix Vegetable (seasonal)
 Vegetable curry (seasonal)
 Curd – 100 gms. Or Sweet
 Pickle in sachet -15 gms

2) Meals in Thalis (Non – Veg.) : Contains following items with rate of Rs. 40
Only.
 Plain rice of fine quality 150 gms.
 Paratha (2 nos.) or Chapati (4 nos.) or Puris (5 nos.) 100 gms.
 Dal or Sambhar (Thick Consistency) 150 gms
 Two egg curry 200 gms.
 Curd 100 gms.
 Sweet 40 gms.
 Pickle in sachet 15 gms.
IRCTC BEVERAGE ITEMS MENU
Following Items are proving on Standard Beverage option with IRCTC Catering
service
 Tea / Coffee Rates
 Standard tea (150 ml) – Rs. 5 Only
 Tea with tea bag (150 ml) – Rs. 7 Only
 Coffee with instant coffee powder (150 ml) – Rs. 7 Only
 Tea in pot (285 ml) – Rs. 10 Only
 Coffee in pot (285 ml) – Rs. 15 Only
 Packaged Drinking Water (Chilled)

 Rail Neer and other BIS approved shortlisted Packaged drinking water
rates as follows
 1 Litter Water : Rs. 15 Only
 500 ml Water : Rs. 10 Only

 JANATA MEAL OR ECONOMY MEAL OR JANATA

KHANA
In quality disposable card boxes. At Stations Rs.15.00 and In Trains Rs.20.00
 Poories – 7 nos (175 gms)
 Dry Potato Curry – 150 gms
 Pickle Sachet – 15 gms
*Tariff of all items inclusive of service tax @ 8.66%
 Bilingual menu sticker is pasted in each coach wherein passenger may
ascertain the menu and tariff for food served in trains.
 In addition on to the above standard food and beverage items, different
a-la-cart items with regional variation are also served for which price
and menu are fixed by zonal railways.
  Passenger may insist on the service providers for issue of cash memos.
 Passengers may lodge their complaints/suggestion to catering services
monitoring cell (CSMC) function at zonal railways level and in Railway
Board at a national toll free number 1800-111-321.

 RATES OF MAJOR FOOD ITEMS IN MAIL/EXPRESS TRAINS

 Tea/Coffee with Tea Bag (150 ml) – Rs.7/-
 Packaged Drinking Water Bottle (1 liter) – Rs.15/-
 Standard Veg.Casserole Meal – Rs.50/-
 Standard Non-Veg. Casserole Meal – Rs.55/-

 CATERING RATES ON KONKAN RAILWAY TRAINS

Konkan Railway published the Catering Menu and Rates on Konkan Railway
operated Trains in Train vending services on the website. Konkan Kanya,
Mandovi, Rajyarani and Matsya Gandha are on the website. Following are the
details of Menu and Rate in Train Meals.
 Menu and Approved Tariff for KR Operated In Train
Vending Services

TARIFF
(RUPEES)
SR NAME OF THE
SPECIFICATIONS INCLUSIVE
NO. ITEMS
OF SERVICE
TAX

I BEVERAGES

Tomato soup 150 ml +

1 Soup 25
with/without Salt/Pepper

Kaju Badam Masala Milk

2 Flavored Milk 25
150 ml

3 Butter Milk/ Sol Kadhi 150 ml 10

1 Litre (Non
4 Packaged Drinking Water 15
Chilled/Chilled)

Cold Drinks of Standard

5 MRP
Companies

Packed Lassi Packets of

6 MRP
Standard companies

Ice Cream of Standard

7 MRP
Companies
 TARIFF
(RUPEES)
SR NAME OF THE
SPECIFICATIONS INCLUSIVE
NO. ITEMS
OF SERVICE
TAX

II MEALS

Poories 7 nos.175 gms, Aalu

1 Janata Khana Dry Curry -150 gms, Pickles 20
– 15 gms

Rice(250 gms), Chapati (2

Nos), Dal (100 ml),
2 Standard Veg. Meals 65
Vegetable (100 ml), Curd
(100 ml), Pickle

Rice (350 gms), Egg Curry

3 Standard Non – Veg Meals (1/2 egg), Chicken Curry 80
(150 gms), Pickle

250 gms of Basmati

4 Veg Biryani / Pulav Rice+100 gms Veg+100 75
gms Raita

350 gms of Veg Fried Rice

5 Veg Fried Rice 65
(Long Grain), Sauce

6 Jeera Rice 200 gms of Basmati Rice 30

300 gms of Tamarind Rice +

7 Tamarind Rice 30
Branded Pickle Sachet
 TARIFF
(RUPEES)
SR NAME OF THE
SPECIFICATIONS INCLUSIVE
NO. ITEMS
OF SERVICE
TAX

300 gms of Lemon Rice +

8 Lemon Rice 30
Branded Pickle Sachet

300 gms + Branded Pickle

9 Curd Rice 25
Sachet

350 gms cooked Rice +

10 Rasam Rice Rasam/ Sambhar 250 ml+ 55
Pickle

200 gms Dal + 200 gms

11 Dal Rice Boiled Rice + 15 gms 30
Branded Pickle Sachet

2 Parata/50 gms each or 04

2 Parata / 4 Chapati with
12 Chapati/ 30 gms each + 150 40
Mix Veg Curry
Veg Dry/ Curry

150 gms (4 Nos Chapati or 2

Chapati/ Parata with Dal and nos of Parata) + 150 gms
13 35
Pickle Dal and Branded Pickle
Sachet

350 gms – Basmati Rice incl

14 Egg Biryani 80
2 Eggs + 100 gms Raita
 TARIFF
(RUPEES)
SR NAME OF THE
SPECIFICATIONS INCLUSIVE
NO. ITEMS
OF SERVICE
TAX

250 gms of Basmati

15 Chicken Biryani Rice+100 gms Chicken 110
+100 gms Raita

250 gms – Basmati Rice and

16 Chicken Fried Rice 85
100 gms Chicken and Sauce

350 gms of Basmati Rice

17 Egg Fried Rice 75
including one egg

200 gms of Fish Curry + 200

gms Rice with 2 pieces of
18 Fish Curry with Rice 80
fish without head and tail
weighing 100 gms

Rice (250 gms ) + 100 gms

19 Chicken Curry with Rice 90
Chicken + 125 gms Gravy

100 gms of Chilly Chicken

20 Chilly Chicken (Boneless) 105
(Bone less)

2 Egg omelet + One branded

21 Omelet 30
Tomato Sachet

22 Scrambled Egg 2 Eggs + 2 Slice bread 35

 TARIFF
(RUPEES)
SR NAME OF THE
SPECIFICATIONS INCLUSIVE
NO. ITEMS
OF SERVICE
TAX

23 Boiled Egg 1 Egg 15

2 Nos of Egg + 100 gms

24 Egg Curry 40
Gravy

100 gms of Chicken + 125

25 Chicken Curry 65
gms Gravy

2 Piece of fish of Popular

variety without head and tail
26 Fish Curry 70
(weighing 100 gms) + 100
gms gravy

4 Pieces with shreaded salad

27 Chicken Loly Pop 95
50 gms + shezwan sauce

300 gms of Egg Noodles +

28 Egg Noodle 80
Sauce

29 Chapati 30 gms , 1 Chapati 4

30 Parata 50 gms, 1 Parata 7

31 Curd (Pot) 150 ml in Pot 25

 TARIFF
(RUPEES)
SR NAME OF THE
SPECIFICATIONS INCLUSIVE
NO. ITEMS
OF SERVICE
TAX

32 Curd 100 ml 15

III SWEET ITEMS

1 Gulaab Jamun 30 gms of Gulaab Jamun 35

2 Jilebi 50 gms of Jilebi 10

3 Fresh Fruits with Custard 150 gms 35

4 Seasonal Fruits 150 gms 20

5 Sweet (Branded) Branded MRP

SNACKS /
REFRESHMENT /
SWEETMEATS

2 Nos of 40 gms each + 40

1 Idly with chutney / Sambar 17
gms Chutney / Sambar

2 Nos of 30 gms each + 40

2 Medu Wada 22
gms chutney
 TARIFF
(RUPEES)
SR NAME OF THE
SPECIFICATIONS INCLUSIVE
NO. ITEMS
OF SERVICE
TAX

2 Nos of 40 gms each + 40

3 Mix Dal Wada 25
gms Chutney

70 gms of Shira + 70 gms of

4 Shira Upma 20
Upma + Chutney

70 gms Dosa + 80 gms

5 Masala Dosa Potato Masala + 40 gms 20
Chutney / Sambar

6 Plain Dosa 70 gms of Dosa + Chutney 18

Bread Butter/Toast Butter 2 Slice of Bread + 10 gms

7 20
(Sandwich Bread) Butter

2 Nos of 50 gms wada each

8 Wada Pav 22
+ 2 Pav + Chutney

80 gms of Pakoda + Sauce

9 Bread Pakoda 22
or Chutney

80 gms of Onion Pakoda +

10 Onion Pakoda 22
Tomato Sauce or Chutney

11 Goli Pakoda 6 Nos 60 gms + Chutney 20

 TARIFF
(RUPEES)
SR NAME OF THE
SPECIFICATIONS INCLUSIVE
NO. ITEMS
OF SERVICE
TAX

Sago + Potato wada 2 nos of

12 Sago Wada 22
40 gms each + Chutney

2 nos of 50 gms each

13 Samosa Samosa + Tomato Sauce or 25
Chutney

14 Kachori 40 gms of Kachori 15

125 gms 2 Slices Bread with

15 Vegetable Sandwich 22
Veg + Sauce

2 Nos of 50 gms each +

16 Veg Cutlet 22
Tomato Sauce

125 gms 2 Slices of Brown

17 Brown Bread Sandwich Bread with Cucumber and 30
Tomato

2 Slices of Cheese Sandwich

18 Cheese Sandwich of 60 gms + 50 gms Boiled 30
Vegetables

Veg Burger (125 gms 1

19 35 gms Bun + 75 gms 40
Piece)
Cooked Cutlet + Onion,
 TARIFF
(RUPEES)
SR NAME OF THE
SPECIFICATIONS INCLUSIVE
NO. ITEMS
OF SERVICE
TAX

Tomato and Salad leaf +

Sauce

III BEVERAGES

Masala Tea (150 ml) in

1 Masala Tea disposable cups of 170 ml 8
capacity

Milk with Tea bag 150 ml in

2 Tea with Tea Bag disposable cups of 170 ml 8
capacity

Coffee with instant coffee

3 Coffee powder (150 ml in 10
disposable cups of 170 ml)

1 Litre (Non
4 Packaged Drinking Water 15
Chilled/Chilled)

5 Milk in cup with sugar 150 ml 10

Cold Drinks of Standard

6 MRP
Companies
 TARIFF
(RUPEES)
SR NAME OF THE
SPECIFICATIONS INCLUSIVE
NO. ITEMS
OF SERVICE
TAX

Packed Lassi Packets of

7 MRP
Standard companies

Ice Cream of Standard

9 MRP
Companies

III OTHERS

Snacks , Seetmeats, Bakery,

Confectionary Produces in
packed condition of
standard and reputed
1 MRP
companies , having clear
details of date of
manufacture / expiry date,
MRP, contents etc.
 MENU FOR DURONTO/RAJDHANI/SHATABDI
EXPRESS TRAINS

 MENU FOR I A/EC

MENU WELCOME DRINK (1 A /EC)

WEIGHT
ITEMS NO.
(GMS)

100% Fruit Juice / Coconut water/Lassi/ Chhach in tetra pack /

Aerated cold Drinks in tin/Bottle (Branded)
1 200 ml

MENU MORNING TEA (1 A /EC)

ITEMS NOS. WEIGHT (GMS)

Digestive biscuit branded (Nutri choice) 2

Tea /Coffee kit 1

Sugar/Sugar free Sachets 1 7

Coffee or 1 1.5-2

Tea bag 1 2

Milk creamer sachets 1 5

ITEMS NOS. WEIGHT (GMS)

Refreshing Tissue 1

MENU FOR BREAKFAST (1 A /EC)

ITEMS NOS. WEIGHT (GMS)

Cornflakes / Oats with milk and sugar 1 25

Slices white/Brown bread 2 50

Marmalade/Jam sachets 1 15

Butter chiplet 1 8 to 10

“Assorted fruit (Banana /apple/orange) ” 1 100-150

Tomato ketchup sachets 1 15

Salt and pepper sachets each 1

Tea /Coffee kit 1

*Tea/Coffee kit as in Morning Tea

 Veg or Non-Veg dishes are also available with the above mentioned items for
breakfast, but the Veg -menu item is different for Northern, Eastern, Western and
Southern regions, Non-Veg items are same for all.

ITEM NORTHERN EASTERN WESTERN SOUTHERN

(2) Stuffed Paratha (2) Stuffed

and Branded curd Paratha
(2) Idly/ Rice
(100g each) and and Branded
Dhokla (100g) Pongal /Rava
Pickle (15g) / (2) curd (100g each)
with Chutney Upma (100g) and
Kulcha Chana and and Pickle (15g)
and Mirch Onion Uthapam
Branded curd (100g / (2) Besan Chila
(30g)/ Poha (100g) and Medu
each) and Pickle with chutney and
(100g) with Vada (30g) with
Veg. (15g) / (2) Besan Branded curd
chutney (30g) / Sambhar (100g)
Dish Chila with chutney (100g each) and
(2) Veg. cutlet and coconut
and Branded curd pickle (15g) / (2)
(50g each) with chutney (40 g)/ (2)
(100g each) and Veg. cutlet (50g
finger chips and Veg. cutlet (50g
pickle (15g) / (2) each)/ Paneer –
boiled veg. each) with finger
Veg. cutlet (50g a-lakieve (30g)
(25g) chips and boiled
each) with finger with finger chips
veg. (25g)
chips and boiled and boiled veg.
veg. (25g), etc. (25g)

OR

Capsicum /Onion/
Plain / Tomato
Non
Omelette of 2 eggs
Veg Same same Same
with finger chips
Dish
and boiled veg.
(25gms).
 MENU FOR LUNCH /DINNER (1 A/EC)

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Soup 1

Basmati Rice 1 100 g

Paratha/ Roti 1 100 g

Dal 150 g

Veg Dish or Non-Veg Dish

Branded Curd 1 100 g

Pickle Sachets 1 15 g

Salt and Pepper Sachets (each) 1

Desert Course Branded 1

 MENU FOR EVENING TEA WHERE DINNER IS SERVED (1 A /EC) and
MENU FOR EVENING TEA WHERE DINNER IS NOT SERVED (1 A
/EC)

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Eclairs 2

Roasted nuts (Branded) 1 20

Veg. Sandwich 1 60

Snacks (Branded) 1 60

Branded Sweets 1 30

Tomato Ketchup 1 15

Tea/Coffee Kit 1

*Tea/Coffee kit as in Morning Tea

  MENU FOR 2 A/3 A/CC

MENU WELCOME DRINK (2A/3A/CC)

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Branded Nimbu Paani in Tetra pack 1 200 ml.

Refreshing Tissue 1

MENU MORNING TEA (2 A/3 A/ CC)

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Biscuit (Marie) 2

Tea Coffee Kit 1

Sugar/Sugar Free Sachets 1 7

Coffee or 1 1.5-2

Tea Bag 1 2

Milk Creamer Sachets 1 5

 MENU FOR BREAKFAST (2 A/3 A/CC)

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Slices White/Brown Bread 2 50 g

Jam Sachets 1 15g

Veg. Dish with Tomato Ketchup Sachets OR Non-Veg.dish

1
with tomato ketch up sachets

Drink (Branded) 1 200 ml

Salt and Pepper 1

Tea/Coffee Kit 1

MENU FOR LUNCH/DINNER (2 A/3 A/CC)

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Soup 1 150 ml

Basmati Rice 1 100 g

Paratha/Roti 1 100 g

Dal 1 150 g
 ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Veg.Dish 1

Non-Veg Dish

Branded Curd 1 100 g

Pickle Sachets 1 15 g

Salt and Pepper 1

Desert Course Branded 1

MENU FOR EVENING TEA (2 A/3 A/CC)

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Salted/Masala Peanuts/Roasted Gram/Chana(Branded) 1 25-30 g

Veg.Sandwich 1 60 g

Snacks (Branded) 1 50 g

Branded Sweets 1 30 g

Tomato Ketchup 1 15g

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Tea/Coffee Kit 1

 MENU FOR DURONTO TRAINS

Sleeper Class

MENU FOR MORNING TEA OF DURONTO TRAINS (SLEEPER CLASS)

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Tea Coffee Kit in good quality paper cup 1

Sugar/Sugar Sachets 1 7

Coffee or 1 1.5-2

Tea Bag 1 2

Milk Creamer Sachets 1 5

MENU FOR BREAKFAST OF DURONTO TRAINS (SLEEPER CLASS)

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Veg dish OR Non-veg Dish with Tomato Ketchup 1 15 gms

Salt and Pepper Sachets 1

Tea Coffee kit in good quality paper cup 1

Sugar/Sugar sachets 1 7

Coffee or 1 1.5-2

Tea Bag 1 2

Milk Creamer Sachets 1 5

 MENU FOR LUNCH/DINNER OF DURONTO TRAINS (SLEEPER CLASS)

ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Rice 1 100

Roti 1 100

Dal 1 100

Veg.Dish OR Non-Veg.Dish 1 100

Branded curd 1 100

Salt and Pepper 1

  CYCLIC MENU FOR EVENING TEA OF
DURONTO TRAINS(SLEEPER CLASS)
ITEMS NOS WEIGHT(GMS)

Snacks with tomato ketchup 1 50 gms

Tea Coffee kit in good quality paper cup 1

Sugar/Sugar Sachets 1 7

Coffee or 1 1.5-2.00

Tea Bag 1 2

Milk Creamer Sachets 1 5

 Absorbent paper napkin of good quality not synthetic as approved by

Railways.
 Service in tray with Mat.
 Cup of Standard Food Grade material.
 Cutlery and crockery of standard food grade material.
  STANDARD MENU FOR STATIC AND MOBILE UNITS
ON INDIAN RAILWAYS

Catering charges of Indian Railways : Tea, Coffee, Breakfast and Meals at

Stations and in Trains

IN
AT STATIONS
SR NO. ITEM TRAINS(IN
(IN RUPEES)
RUPEES)

Standard tea (150 ml) in

1 disposable cups of 170 ml 5 5
capacity

Tea (with tea bag) (150 ml) in

2 disposable cups of 170 ml 7 7
capacity

Coffee using instant coffee

3 powder (150 ml) in disposable 7 7
cups of 170 ml capacity

Tea in pots (285 ml) + 2 tea bags

4 10 10
+ 2 sugar pouches

Coffee in pots (285 ml) + 2

5 instant Coffee sachets + 2 sugar 15 15
pouches

Rail Neer/ Packaged drinking

6
water (chilled) *
 IN
AT STATIONS
SR NO. ITEM TRAINS(IN
(IN RUPEES)
RUPEES)

6(i) 1 litre bottle/1000 ml 15 15

6(ii) 500 ml. bottle 10 10

Janta Meal or Economy meal or

7 15 20
Janta Khana

8 Standard Breakfast

Vegetarian Breakfast (a) Bread

Butter and cutlet or (b) Idli and
8(i) 25 30
Vada or (c) Upma and Vada or
(d) Pongal and Vada

Non- Vegetarian Breakfast

8(ii) 30 35
Bread, Butter and omelet

9 Standard Casserole meals

9(i) Vegetarian 45 50

9(ii) Non-Vegetarian 50 55

Standard Thali Meals (only in

10 0
Ref. Rooms)
 IN
AT STATIONS
SR NO. ITEM TRAINS(IN
(IN RUPEES)
RUPEES)

10(i) Meals in Thalis (veg.) 35 0

10(ii) Meals in Thalis (Non veg.) 40 0

 Methodology

Since the project mainly deals with studying of the policies framed by the
Railways and the suggesting some possible solutions to the problems that are
faced by the catering departments, my approach has been ‘Literature Search
supplemented by findings from Field Visits and Surveys’.

 Field Visits
I went for two field visits to the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST).
In the first field visit, I interacted with some officials there about the facilities that
are available at the station. In addition, I asked for their suggestions about various
measures that can be used to improve the existing catering services. I also visited
the refreshment rooms and the vending stalls present at platform of the Chatrapati
Shivaji Terminus (CST) and looked at the facilities available and the quality of
the services they offer.
In my second field visit at the Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), I visited the
base kitchen of the station. I had a discussion with the workers in the base kitchen
and discussed about various aspects of the catering services in the railways. I also
examined the storage facilities and the hygiene maintenance at the base kitchen.
  Surveys
In order to have a better understanding, I decided to conduct an online survey on
‘Consumer expectations from catering services in Indian Railways’ in which
questions were raised from various domains in the catering services and the
customer was asked to put up his preference. There were more than 200 responses
on the survey from people from all parts of the country. Some of the questions
are discussed below.

1%
4% 1% Age Group

0-15
15-30
30-60
94% Above 60

Since it was an online survey, most of the responses were received from the age
group of 15-30. The survey can also be termed as expectations of young India
from catering services in Railways. The highest number of responses came from
the state of Andhra Pradesh, which constituted 23% of the total votes. Other
significant contributors were from the states of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and
Rajasthan.
 Have you ever availed catering facilities
in Indian Railways
3%
Yes, during train journey
29%
Yes, on railway station
62%
6% Yes, on both- train as well as
station

More than 95% of the people have availed catering services by Indian Railways.

How important are catering and

1- Not Important
hospitality services in your travel? 2
28% 1%
1% 3
2%
3% 4
3%
20% 5
6%
6
12% 7
24% 8
9
10- Very Important

More than 80 percent of the people feel that catering and hospitality services form
an important part of their travel, which clearly calls for revamp in the planning
and the implementation for new and innovative policies to develop this sector.
I decided to ask questions regarding the catering facilities that passengers have
observed in their past journeys.
 How was the quality of food offered?
3% 1- Worst
1%
2
6% 5%
10% 3
17% 4
11% 5
6
14% 7
17%
8
16% 9
10- Best

Most of the reviews suggest that the food quality was nearly average. This is a
compliment for the railways, given the diversity of the passengers travelling in it.
However, there lies a huge task to improve the quality of food satisfy as many
passengers as possible.
 How was the variety of food offered by
the service providers?
4% 2% 2% 3% 1- Worst
2
11% 3
16%
4
5
17% 6
16% 7
8
9
11% 18%
10- Best

In India, variety and quality are often used interchangeably. Increase in the
variety of items is generally perceived as increase in quality of services. The data
on the consumer satisfaction on the variety of services provided by the survey
indicates that this sector has to be looked more seriously. Increase in the variety
of the items can be done by availing an option of having a deluxe thali for those
who want more items in their food, increase in the snacks etc.
 How was the behaviour of the catering
service providers/staff during the journey?
4% 3% 5% 1- Worst
5%
2
17% 3
8% 4
5
14% 6
21%
7

10% 8
13% 9
10- Best

This is one another factor that needs to be looked at seriously. Staff misbehaviour
is frequently seen while questioning for the timing of meal, quality of services
etc. The staff needs to be trained for making a professional conversation with the
passengers- as is done by the waiters in the restaurants.
 How was the waste management
system in the platforms and inside the
trains?
3% 2% 1%
5% 18% 1- Worst
6%
2
3
14%
22% 4
5
12% 6
17% 7
8
9
10- Best

This is perhaps one of the most important and one of the most neglected issues.
Maintaining healthy environment at the stations and inside the trains directly
changes the perception of the hygiene of the food. For example, food served in
clean compartments and clean stations would be perceived to be more hygienic
than the same served in unclean stations. There is a need for a proper waste
disposal mechanism. The disposal of waste from onboard catering services needs
to be looked into seriously. The throwing of all the waste products on tracks
degrades and becomes harmful for the families residing near the tracks.
Also, one aspect where we lack from our foreign counterparts is ethics training.
Use of dustbins for dumping all the waste is not taken seriously. That is another
reason for the accumulation of waste on the tracks. There is a need to create
awareness among the people to follow hygienic practices in their life.
Maintaining cleanliness is a collective effort, hence, all players have to play their
part for the overall system to benefit.
 RESULTS

- Findings from the literature

Theoretical Readings and literature survey helped me to understand the
policies that are in place for the catering services. For the simplification of my
study, I decided to divide the study into four domains – Infrastructure, Food
Quality and Hygiene, Feedback Management Systems, Waste Management
Systems.

Food
Quality and
Hygiene

Feedback
Infrastructure Catering Management
Facilities
Services System

Waste
Management
System

Figure 2: The various domains in catering systems in Indian Railways

- Infrastructure Facilities:

The domain mainly consists of the adequacy of the equipment in the base kitchen,
pantry cars, vending stalls, Food Plazas etc. The base kitchens are generally
present on the platform of the main stations.
The rail ministry in its catering policy has specified the need of base kitchens to
come up on the platform of the station as it is easy to monitor and manage the
proceedings there. In coming years, we can expect the base kitchen to be installed
in the station premises itself.

Pantry cars occupy an important place in the catering system of the Railways by
serving the on board passengers of long distance trains.

- Food Quality and Hygiene:

Food Quality and hygiene is the most important part of the catering system.
Ensuring that quality and the hygiene of the food are maintained has been the top
priority of the railways. There have been tie-ups with the nearby retail chains and
the base kitchen so as to get fresh supply of vegetables. Again, measures are been
taken to have better storage facilities. Storage and cooking of vegetarian and non-
vegetarian diets are being done separately.

In the case of Food Quality and Hygiene, the overall satisfaction depends upon
two facets – the things visible to the customer and the things invisible to the
customer. The things visible would constitute of Cleanliness of the compartment,
packaging, cleanliness of the uniform of staff, cleanliness of trays, cups, etc. The
invisible things are the cleanliness of kitchen, processes laid for the
procurement/storage of raw materials, hygiene practices followed by the cooks
and the other workers, actions taken against the contractors who had not delivered
services up to the mark etc. Both these factors combined give a ‘perceived
hygiene of food’ by the passengers. Specific guidelines are to be circulated among
the persons working in the base kitchen regarding the hygiene they are required
to follow.
 Visible to Customer Invisible to Customer

Cleanliness of the compartment Cleanliness of the Kitchen and

the Pantry Cars

Quality of packaging of food

items.
Storage facilities in the Kitchen
Cleanliness of the uniform of the
staff
Measures taken against the
contractors on violating the
Cleanliness of trays, cups, etc. prescribed norms for railway
catering.

Figure 3: The two facets in hygiene – visible and invisible aspects

- Feedback Management System:

A strong feedback analysis system would help the people restore their faith in the
railways. At present there is a provision of providing feedbacks through SMS,
telephone and web. The complaints that are concerned with the catering services
provided by Indian Railways are being forwarded to them by the IRCTC. The
railways are coming up with their own feedback management system.

The railways have a system that divides the complaints according to the problems
faced by the passengers. For example, the complaints regarding staff
misbehaviour come under one banner while analysis etc. This would help in
solving the cases quickly. But there should be stricter and stringent policies
against the catering suppliers against whom repeated complaints have been
logged.
 - Catering Waste Management System:

The catering waste management has been a sector that needs frequent attention.
There has to be an effective waste management system. Railway suffers a huge
amount of loss due to corrosion of tracks because of the increasing waste dumped
into them. There are specific guidelines laid out for waste management in the base
kitchens as well as in the pantry cars. There is no proper waste management
mechanism for the passengers onboard. The packaging and other catering waste
are simply thrown out of the windows of the train. There has to be a proper system
wherein the passengers get a dispose off the catering waste. Again, most of the
catering waste consists of bio-degradable and recyclable materials. So, a proper
mechanism for disposing these materials has to be there.
Recommendations, Scope and Strategy for Implementation
In the 21st century, the railways should change its perception of catering services
as a moral obligation to the passengers and come up with solutions that would
help the services to be more customer oriented. Some of the recommendations
that came up during my research are:-
Catering Waste Management System:
A lot of catering waste is dumped on the tracks – both onboard and offboard. The
findings from the field visits and survey indicate that having a proper mechanism
has to be sorted out to manage this waste. The role has to be played out
collectively by five domains – passengers, train cleaning staff, sanitation workers
in station, municipal workers and waste recycle units.

Passengers

Waste Sanitation
Recycle Workers in
Units Station
Catering Waste
Management

Train
Municipal
cleaning
Workers
staff

Figure 4: The various domains concerning Catering Waste Management

Passengers: The role of passengers is of primary importance. There should be a
realization among the masses that the throwing of waste products on the tracks
and the platforms had to be avoided in order to keep the station clean. There can
be some pictorial representations on the stations urging passengers to keep the
station clean. In addition, dustbins should be available at the platforms. Inside the
trains, I propose having a mini portable dustbin in each compartment where the
passengers can put the waste products instead of throwing them on tracks.

Train Cleaning Staff: A railway employee would come every four hours to
empty the contents of the dustbin in another bigger dustbin present in one of the
places in the train, for example, at a corner of the pantry car. The division of waste
in the three types- biodegradable, non-biodegradable and recyclable can be done
here as it is mandatory for the pantry cars to have them.

Sanitation Workers at Station: The dustbins would be emptied in the nearest

main stations at the route of the train and the waste would then be handed over to
the sanitation workers at the station. These workers would then transfer the waste
to the municipal workers of the district.

Municipal Workers: The municipal workers would shift the waste to the units
assigned specifically for them. For example, recyclable waste has to be sent to
waste recyclable units.

Waste Recycle Units: They are primarily responsible for disposing off the toxic
and non-biodegradable waste and recycle the waste that can be recycled.
 Catering waste from the compartment, pantry car and the base kitchen
collected and separated into three types – biodegradable, recyclable and
non-biodegradable.

The waste to be handed over to sanitation workers at the nearest station.

These workers will empty the dustbins and then carry the waste to
municipal corporation workers.

The municipal corporation workers then will take the waste to their
respective units – i.e. the recyclable waste to go into the recyclable unit .

Figure 5: Flowchart for a better catering waste management system

Overpricing:
Overpricing happens due to lack of knowledge of the actual prices of the
commodities.
To curb the problem of overpricing onboard facilities, I propose of having
transparency on the price of the commodities. It should be made mandatory to
have a print of the cost of menu items on the packaging. In addition, a complaint
number should also be there on the packaging of the items. This would tell the
actual price to the customer and the seller would have no chance to ask for an
increase in the price.
To curb the problem of overpricing in the vending stalls, a barcode reader
machine can be installed at them. The passengers will get a bill on their purchase
of goods and services. This would also keep a check on the vendors selling other
items than they are licensed to/ assigned to as there would be no mention of such
items in the bar code reader. So the problem of overpricing and selling
illegal/more items by the vendors is taken care of.
 Overpricing

On board Off Board

A barcode reader to be installed

Price of the items to be in vending stalls and the
displayed on the packaging passengers are to be provided
with bills for their purchase

Figure 6: Various forms of overpricing and their remedies.

Effective Feedback Management System:

There has to be a definite feedback management system. The suggestions and

complaints should be sorted out in various types and sorted out based on priority.
The various types are mentioned in the diagram below:
 Food Quality
and Hygiene

Praise on the
Overcharging services
offered

Nature of
Feedback

Poor Services Overcharging

Staff
Behaviour

Figure 7: Various forms of feedbacks.

Further, for a more simplified feedback system , I propose that the paper napkin
provided with them should have the contact number of the feedback agencies.
This will increase the pressure upon the catering Tender of the departmental
catering house should be cancelled if the number of complaints exceeds a
particular limit.
If the number of complaints against a catering services provider in on the verge
of rise over a period of time, in spite of repeated warnings, his contract should be
terminated
There should be a corrective action defined on the complaint made. The
corrective action may vary from a mild warning to termination. This would put
pressure on the concerned authorities to perform better. Figure 12 explains the
various corrective actions that can be taken on the suggestions and complaints
made by the passengers.
 Not
important

Suggestion
Fine
noted

Corrective
Action

Termination Warning

Counselling

Figure 8: The corrective actions taken on the feedbacks.

 CONCLUSION
If there is a sector in India that connects and comprises of people from all the
sectors of the country, it is the railways. Indian Railway will continue to play a
crucial role in the economy of the country in the many years to come. The need
of the hour is to have an exclusive catering policy and system in place that would
fulfil the requirements of the whole spectrum of passengers. The changes that
would change the face of the catering services should be encouraged. Some of
the better things from the more organized sectors, namely the airlines and the
restaurants, can be incorporated in the future in the Indian Railways catering
services. The services have to be more customers oriented and work has to be
done to fulfil the expectations of the passengers travelling. There is a need to set
a standard to achieve in the next years to come. People should also be more
responsible citizens and exercise their rights. In addition to making complaints,
if the services provided are appreciable, people should provide a feedback for the
same. The ministry has tried hard over the years to manage a domain concerning
such large population coming in from much diversity. There have been a few
success and few failures on their part. Many number of committees and expert
groups have gone into the various issues and come up with any number of
suggestions as to what the railways need to do and how they must change. Lack
of a clear political mandate, non-commercial organizational ethos and short
tenures at the policymaking levels has been responsible for maintaining the status
quo. The future of the railways is very bright and hence, is of the catering
services. A definite approach from the government and helped by the people
would take railways to heights.
 Bibliography

https://www.ecatering.irctc.co.in/
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.irctchelp.in/irctc-latest-food-menu-
rates/amp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railway_Catering_and_Tourism_Corporat
ion
https://www.irctchelp.in/irctc-latest-food-menu-rates#newcateringpolicy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Railways
https://www.irctchelp.in/new-catering-policy-2017-by-irctc/
http://menurates.irctc.co.in/
http://www.srmuniv.ac.in/sites/default/files/2016/irctc_case_study_dec2016_sr
m_ihm.pdf
https://www.ijltemas.in/DigitalLibrary/Vol.7Issue6/01-08.pdf