Say bye to boring railway food, get Domino’s pizza, McDonald’s burgers on trains from June 15

punjab

Updated: Jul 08, 2017 18:49 IST

From June 15, passengers onboard Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains can pre-order their favourite fast food to their seat online, on phone call or by SMS, with mandatory meals now becoming optional.

The Indian Railways has tied up with food chains such as Domino’s, KFC, McDonald’s and Sagar Ratna, among others. However, even as the service begins on Thursday, Ludhiana passengers travelling to Delhi by Shatabdi will only be able to avail food from Domino’s and other restaurants such as Gyan Vegetarian at Ludhiana and Babbi Fish and Chicken.

Brands such as KFC and McDonald’s are yet to start delivery at stations that fall under Ferozepur division of Northern Railways.

Divisional commercial manager Rajneesh Srivastava said this was an effort to provide a delightful travelling experience to passengers. He said a passenger must book their meals at least two hours before.

“While booking online, passengers should visit www.ecatering.irctc.co.in. They can then choose the station where they want the food delivered. After selecting the station, passengers will get options of food joints available for that particular station. They can view the menu of these food joints and order their food,” he said. He added that you could pay online or at the time of delivery. The food aggregator will be responsible that the order was delivered to a passenger within time of the train’s halt at any particular station.

In June last year, the railways conducted a 45-day trial on Patna Rajdhani, Delhi-Mumbai August Kranti Rajdhani, Pune-Secunderabad Shatabdi and Howrah-Puri Shatabdi.

Other vendors that the railways have partnered with include Switz Foods, Only Alibaba, Haldiram, Bikanerwala, Nirula’s and Pizza Hut.

To order food online

■ Visit www.ecatering.irctc.co.in.

■ Choose station or enter your PNR number where you want food delivered

■ Select food operator, choose from menu and place order

■ OTP received to be verified during delivery

To order food by phone call

■ Call ‘1323’ and place order

■ Verify through OTP received via SMS

■ Pay with cash on delivery

To order food via SMS

■ Text ‘MEAL’, followed by PNR number to 139

■ Place your order with customer care executive

■ Verify through OTP

■ Pay for meals later on delivery.