IRCTC vendors to sell food on Pune-Mumbai trains soon

PUNE: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will soon have dedicated vendors to sell food to passengers of five trains plying between the city and Mumbai.
Among the six intercity trains plying between Pune and Mumbai, only Deccan Queen has the pantry car service. There have been demand for such a service for the rest of the trains — Deccan Express, Pragati Express, Sinhgad Express, Mumbai-Pune Intercity and Indrayani Express.
“Tenders related to train-side vending at various sections of the Pune rail division have been floated and the service would start within a couple of months,” an IRCTC official said.
“The selected vendor will serve meals and snacks to the passengers travelling in these five trains under the guidance of the Railways and IRCTC,” the official added.
“The food will be prepared and packed in accordance with the standards of the Railways and IRCTC at stations such as Pune, Daund and Karjat. Representatives of the selected vendors will board the trains and sell the food items to the passengers,” a Railways official said.
TOI had in August last year reported the Railway’s direction to the IRCTC to start train-side vending and get rid of illegal vending.
Passengers have welcomed the IRCTC’s move. “The authorities need to stop illegal vending on trains. On many occasions they serve sub-standard food and charge different prices for the same item,” said Harsha Shah, president of the Railway Pravasi Group.
The IRCTC has, in the meantime, started a probe into the complaint about worms being found in an omelette served to a passenger in the pantry car of the Deccan Queen over a month ago. “The issue has reached our Mumbai office and investigations are in progress,” an IRCTC official said.