NEW DELHI: Indian Railways is bringing on board popular fast food chains Pizza Hut and KFC to deliver pre-ordered meals to passengers, providing an interesting interlude to commuters inured to delays on the world’s largest rail network. IRCTC , which handles online ticketing, catering and tourism for railways, has approved Pizza Hut and KFC’s applications for ecatering.Food from these vendors will have to be ordered through IRCTC’s website 48 hours prior to the date of journey. A password sent by the vendor to the buyer’s mobile phone will have to be mentioned at the time of delivery. In February, IRCTC had rolled out a pilot project with Jubilant Food Works, which operates the Dominos’ Pizza brand in the country, to deliver pizzas at 12 stations — Agra Cantonment, Alwar, Jaipur, Ambala, Jalandhar, Mathura Junction, Muzzafarnagar, New Delhi, Pathankot, Vapi, Bharuch and Vadodara."To begin with, the service will start in trains that do not have a pantry car. Subsequently, it will be extended to trains with pantry cars like Rajdhani and Duronto," IRCTC chairman and MD AK Manocha told ET. More locations are being identified for delivery of food from Pizza Hut and KFC, he added. The problem of having such a system on long-distance trains with pantry cars is that the price of a meal is included in the passenger fare, says Manocha.As per the plan, the food chains can deliver meals ordered online directly or use the railways’ network of food plazas to deliver in trains."If a firm like Pizza Hut does not have an outlet at the food plaza, then it can always deliver from its normal outlet near the station in the city," Manocha said. Dhruv Kaul, chief marketing officer at Yum Restaurants, which operates Pizza Hut and KFC, said: "We are actively pursuing this opportunity and are in the process of engaging with the concerned authorities for fine-tuning details of the same."He said the opportunity presents huge potential to scale. Manocha said railways has received expression of interest from other catering firms, including Subway and Bikano. In addition, IRCTC is also in talks with quick service restaurant chains like Cafe Coffee Day Barista Coffee and Jumbo King Vadapav to open food kiosks at railway stations.