Railways "All Passenger Services " on One Mobile App

From Booking Tickets To Ordering Meals, All-In-One Railways App Soon

NEW DELHI:  A seamless travel experience for rail commuters with a swipe of a finger is in the offing as Railways plans to revamp its mobile application and include "all passenger services" for its customers.

"We are preparing an integrated mobile application for railway passengers which will take care of all their needs."

"It will be an app that will take care of the entire journey -- from booking a ticket to booking a taxi, pre-ordering a meal, requesting for porter services, lodging at a retiring room, ordering a bed roll, complaining about lack of cleanliness in a coach, accessing digital entertainment, reserving a hotel, booking an airline ticket in case of a waitlisted rail ticket, among other services,"said an official from the Non-Fare Directorate of the Railway Ministry.

Ernst and Young, which has drafted this proposal for the Railways, intends to enhance the application in three stages by the end of which it plans to provide access to medical facilities, connect a passenger to police in case of an emergency and even assist with parking at railway stations.

It is expected that this initiative, which is part of railways' move to monetise its digital assets, will fetch up to Rs. 500 crores annually.

The Railway Ministry hopes that in this manner it will be able to augment its "non-fare revenue", which is less than 5 per cent of the total revenue earned by it. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in his budget speech earlier this year had envisaged raising this to at least 10-20 per cent by monetising soft assets.

Source:NDTV

WOMEN SELF-HELP GROUPS TO PROVIDE FOOD ON TRAINS

Passengers travelling in trains will soon have the option of enjoying food prepared by some women’s self help groups as Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is planning to tie up with them to enhance its e-catering portfolio. “The proposed association with SHGs is part of our plan to empower women,” said IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director A.K. Manocha.

In other news, Railways will start a new train between Jammu and Haridwar by March this year. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said at an event in Jammu on Saturday that steps are being taken to increase rail connectivity of Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of the country.PTI

Source :The Hindu

Station Based E-Catering Servies now Available on 45 Major Stations

In compliance of the Railway Budget Announcement 2015-16 Indian Railways had launched E-catering services through its PSU IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation) with the objective to facilitate passengers to book meals of their choice on their seats on trains. Initially starting with 28 non Pantry Car Trains, this train-based e-catering services is now available in 1516 trains.

Based on the response/feedback, received from the passengers and the need to further improve availability of good catering services available to travelling passengers, Ministry of Railways has decided to proliferate the existing train-based E-catering scheme additionally to station-based E-catering. In the first phase, the scheme of station based E-catering has been made available on pilot basis on 45 major stations. Under this extended scheme, travelling passengers would be allowed to order food of their choice from leading private caterers at an approaching station. Station-based E-Catering shall be only for Stations and not on moving trains.

Indian Railways: IRCTC ecatering service becomes ‘Food on Track’; check on ecatering.irctc.co.in

In addition to the already existing Dominos Pizza and KFC, the 'Food On Track' have tied up with Copper Chimney, Cafe Chino, Masala Chicken, Punjab Grill among others to increase the varieties of the food items for Indian Railways train passengers.

Spurred by a steady rise in the popularity of its e-catering, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) has branded the service with a new name ‘Food On Track’.

In addition to the already existing Dominos Pizza and KFC, the ‘Food On Track’ have tied up with Copper Chimney, Cafe Chino, Masala Chicken, Punjab Grill among others to increase the varieties of the food items for Indian Railways train passengers.

Earlier, ecatering used to receive daily orders totaling an average of 80-90 meals, while this has recently more than doubled after it was introduced as a station-based facility, said a senior IRCTC official.

In fact, yesterday as many as 1,000 meals were ordered through ecatering. The items comprised Indian and continental delicacies, out of which approximately 700 meals of a single brand were ordered, he added.

The e-catering facility allows passengers to order meals while traveling, either online at www.ecatering.irctc.co.in or by making a phone call to 0120-2383892-99 or the toll-free number at 1800-1034-139. They can also choose to do so through an SMS to 139 by giving details of their PNR and seat number.

To popularize the ‘Food on Track’ at stations, IRCTC is also developing mobile-based applications.

The station-based e-catering service at 45 stations, introduced last month-end, will allow traveling passengers to order food of their choice from leading private Food giants, in addition to IRCTC’s very own ‘Jan Ahaars’ (budget food), food plazas and fast food units, to be delivered at these stations.

The ‘Food On Track’, which is also on, at the stations, after its launch as e-catering in September last year, is being provided in 1,516 non-pantry car trains, as well.

The station-based ‘Food On Track’ facility would be available for all trains passing through the 45 stations including Howrah, New Delhi, Chennai Central, Mumbai Central, Delhi, Bangalore City and Patna among others.

Source:The Financial Express

Now, Railways to offer Meal of your Choice

IRCTC is now providing station based e-catering facility that will allow the passengers to order food of their choice from private caterers

Indian Railway passengers who are tired of eating the same old meals and are tired of surfing through the menu cards at Jan Ahaar stalls have a reason to cheer for. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is now providing station based e-catering facility that will allow the passengers to order food of their choice from private caterers. The facility is going to be introduced in phases at 45 railway stations in the country, which also includes Pune. The service, however will be available only at the stations and not moving trains.

IRCTC is soon expected to float Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to ensure partnerships with private food stores which include KFC, Haldiram’s, McDonald’s, Bikanerwala, Nirulas, Subway, Pizza Hut, Sarvana Bhavan and more. To popularise the e-catering facility on stations, the PSU has also decided to develop mobile based applications. Talking about the new service, Manoj Jhawar, the Pune Division Railway PRO said, “IRCTC has not yet declared when the service will begin in Pune, however in the guidelines it has made clear that a minimum of five vendors will be shortlisted for each session by IRCTC to make sure that the passengers get a variety of choices.”

The facility has been announced in accordance with the Railway Budget’s announcement of broadening the horizons of e-catering service. The facility will be extended to other stations in the country after assessing the response of these 45 stations. The stations which will receive the facility include Pune, New Delhi, Howrah, Chennai Central, Mumbai Central, Delhi, Bangalore, Patna, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar, Madurai, Amritsar, Thiruvananthapuram Central, Kanpur Central, Allahabad, Chandigarh, Gorakhpur, Sealdah, Vadodara, New Jalpaiguri, Vishakhapatnam, Mughalsarai, Varanasi, Jaipur, Bilaspur, Kharagpur, Anand Vihar, Nizamuddin, Ludhiana, Secunderabad, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Chennai Egmore, Ernakulam, Kozhikode, Thrisur, Yasvantpur, Nagpur, Agra Cantt, Gwalior, Jhansi, Surat, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Guwahati .

Indian Railways taken steps to improve catering Services 

Improvement of catering services is an ongoing process. Steps taken/being taken to further improve the catering services include 

(i)Third Party Audit of catering services to be conducted at periodic intervals by independent and reputed auditing agencies accredited by NABCB (National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies) as empanelled by the zonal Railways. 

(ii) Introduction of e-Catering so that passengers can book the food of their choice through internet.

(iii) Introduction of Pre-cooked Food (ready to eat) meals of reputed brands to improve the quality, hygiene and to provide variety of options of meals to the passengers.

(iv) Setting up of centralized Catering Services Monitoring Cell (CSMC) with a toll free number 1800-111-321 for prompt redressal of the passenger grievances related to the catering activities and real time assistance to travelling public.

(v) Imposition of stringent punitive action including heavy penalties in case of deficiencies in services.

Further, transparent contract awarding and management system has been laid down in Catering Policy, 2010. Standard Bid Documents (SBDs) for award of general minor units, major static units and mobile catering units (Pantry car) have been issued.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

Source :PIBNEWS.

Prabhu urges people to participate in development, digitisation of Railways

Saturday, July 18, 2015, Pune: Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu today urged the people to participate in the development and digitisation process of Indian Railways, while sharing their views for the better prospects and development of the country.

Addressing the students as the Chief Guest for the centenary celebrations of Sir Parshuram College, Mr Prabhu said the PM Modi govt had acquired the largest investments for Railways and the business magazine of UK ‘Economist’ had also praised their development programme.

The lack of a proper development model in the past years had created many problems for the passengers. He also said that he will try to bring more investments to the Railways and focus on increasing the tracks, whose length has not been increased in the past years.

Education is important and it will be more important in future, he stressed.

Mr Prabhu further said that they have concentrated on making a strong foundation to build a better future for the nation, adding that 67 announcements made by him in the Railway Budget have been fulfilled till date.

Speaking on the Railways, Mr Prabhu appealed to the citizens to help maintain the cleanliness of the railway stations. The Modi government has taken a major programme to develop 400 railway stations in every aspect.

They will also be working for the environment, by planting lakhs of trees on both sides of the railway tracks; for saving power, they will be installing solar power plants; and there will be an audit for water usage to help preserve it.

Mr Prabhu pointed out that RO Water Filtration Plants will be installed for safe drinking water; and with E-Catering, which has been started, commuters can enjoy their choice of food.  – UNI

Source :DayandNightNews

IRCTC to expand its Portfolio of Services: A.K.Manocha, CMD/IRCTC in an Interview

New Delhi: With railway ticket reservations booking extended from 60 days to 120 days from the date of journey, AK Manocha, Chairman and Managing Director, IRCTC hauls up his systems with imported technology and increase efficiency. In an interview, he discussed plans of improving fine dining on board. Excerpts.

What are you doing to improve the quality of service for e-ticketing operations that is slow and inundated with customer complaints? 

According to the telecom  industry data, at least 18 per cent of the total population now uses internet in India. Around 100 crore of the total population has Smartphones that are fast gaining pace in everyone’s life, the earlier servers were not able to cope with the data. Now, we have installed five high-capacity servers, imported from Singapore, to speed up our e-ticketing operations. The operationalisation of five new high-speed servers will substantially enhance the website’s performance. Also, the entire procedure of e-ticketing will get a facelift with improvement in efficiency of the log-in time and payment gateway. The number of concurrent users is expected to go up from the existing 1,80,000 to 3,00,000 and the existing capacity to book around 15,000 tickets per minute will go up considerably.

There were some speculations regarding IRCTC wanting to enter the hotel business. What are the plans and the investment size?

Our idea to get into the fine dining restaurant business is still at a nascent stage.  We are discussing the concept with the ministry and hotel industry players.

Tell us about your catering business to corporate houses and revenues you are generating at present?

We are not getting enough revenues for this segment of our business. We are currently incuring losses. Earlier, we were supplying to seven corporates, recently we have stopped our contract with HCL since there were pricing issues. At Rs 80 per meal, we were not making any profits since requirements were also limited. Overall, the prices of vegetables and other commodities went up significantly but we were not able to increase price. However, we have received a good response for our e-catering service and we plan to expand to 1500 trains from around 400 at present. We are also working out ways to expand the service to Shatabdi trains.

What are net revenues and PAT for the fiscal year ended 2014-15?

Our revenues for 2014-15 period are Rs 1,050 crore and PAT is Rs 150 crore. This year, our revenues will be higher. We are in the process of setting up 5,000 water vending machines across 1,200 railway stations in the country. Passengers will able to buy fresh and unadulterated water for Rs 5 a litre, Rs 3 for half a litre and Rs 1 per glass. Passengers can buy water through cash, coins and smart cards. At present, we don’t need funds for expansion but many banks and financial institutions are ready to help us with funding.

Tell us about your proposed tie-up with Dominos Pizza to provide pizzas on board?

Consumers will be able to order pizzas that will be delivered to the trains on the next station. This requires a robust backend operation channel that will get access to various train routes. There are some issues regarding sharing of commission, marketing and advertising the scheme. These should be resolved soon.

Lite Bite Foods ties up with IRCTC to offer delicacies in Indian Railways

Mumbai: Lite Bite Foods, one of the largest F&B retail company in the country, has tied up with IRCTC (The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) to offer scrumptious and high quality cuisines at a budget price to commuters travelling by Indian Railways. The services will be offered at New Delhi, Nizamudddin, Old Delhi and Delhi Cantt. railway stations. The tie up is a part of IRCTC’s endeavour to offer varied cusiness to passengers to choose from its newly launched e-catering service. Railway passengers can now relish the delicious north Indian thali by Street Foods by Punjab Grill.

A passenger can order either by logging on to IRCTC’s E-Catering website or through IRCTC’s toll-free number 1800-1034-139 and 0120-2383892-99 or an SMS to 139 giving details of their PNR and seat number.

Rohit Aggarwal, director, Lite Bite Foods said, “We are delighted to tie up with Indian Railways, we look forward to cater passengers across the country with best of our delicacies. Every passenger can now opt for his/her favourite cuisine, who earlier preferred to munch chips and biscuits than buying food on the train.”  Sharad Sachdeva, CEO, Lite Bite Foods added, “We also plan to extend the service to more stations gradually and introduce kiosks of Lite Bite Foods’ core brands (Punjab Grill, Baker Street, Asia 7) at various railway stations.”

IRCTC has recently identified 1,144 more trains for extension of its e-catering service, which allows passengers to get the food of their choice from leading food chains delivered to their seat via online or SMS booking.

With this tie up, Lite Bite Foods has expanded its presence and entered the railways, the company was earlier awarded the food and beverage concessions at Mumbai Airport and New Delhi Airport and has set up Street Food by Punjab Grill, Baker Street and also operates various other brands at the airports such as – Pizza Hut, KFC, Krispy Kreme and 4700 BC.

Initiatives/Achievements of Indian Railways in Last One Year

Followings are the initiatives/achievements of Ministry of Railways in the last one year:-

PASSENGER AMENITIES & SERVICES

1. All Indian helpline no. 138 launched for passengers to register complaints etc.

2. All India Security helpline 182 launched to help report any unsavory incidents.

3.A ‘Customer Complaint Web Portal and Mobile Application’ (Android/Windows based mobile app) launched.

4.The scheme of paper less unreserved ticketing using Mobile phone started. The first pilot introduced in the Egmore-Tambaram Suburban Section of Chennai.

5.Next generation e-ticketing system introduced increasing booking speed by around 4 times.

6 E-catering services introduced in 134 pairs of trains with a view to serve meal to the passengers at their seat by placing order through a phone call, SMS or website.

7.The facility of SMS alerts started on informing the status of reserved tickets.

8.SMS alerts to give wake up calls introduced.

9.Yatri Ticket /Sewa Kendra (YTSK) Scheme launched to allow private agents to operate ticketing terminals for selling reserved as well as unreserved tickets.

10.RO drinking water units commissioned at Dwarka, Gadag, HNZM, Katihar, Madurai and Tirupati Stations.

11. Passenger amenities were improved at 108 stations under the scheme of Adarsh Stations during 2014-15.

12.Indian Railways started six pilgrims special tourist trains to cover Hindu Pilgrim centres, Jain Pilgrim centres and Sikh Pilgrim centres. More different pilgrim centres being planned in subsequent phases.

13.Mobile App for security of women launched in Mumbai suburban trains in the first phase.

14.Decision taken to provide CCTV cameras on train coaches in order to improve security measures.

15.Wi-Fi services now made available on 9 stations. include Bengaluru, Secunderabad, Mumbai CST, Agra, Varanasi, Howrah, Chennai and Ahmedabad. More stations in phases.

16.Indian Railways participating in the ‘Swachch Bharat Abhiyan’. Separate directorate for Environment and Housekeeping created. Integrated policy for cleanliness is under formulation.

17.More than 10159 bio-toilets have been fitted till March 2015.

18.Additional 83 numbers of trains have been covered under On Board Housekeeping Scheme taking total coverage to around 500 trains.

19.Mechanised laundries for supplying clean linen set up at 6 new locations taking total to 33 laundries.

20.Dustbins to be provided in non AC coaches also.

21.First ‘Green’ DEMU train introduced on Northern Railway to run betwee4n Rewari-Rohtak section.

22.Disposable bags for garbage disposal have been started as a pilot project in Mumbai-Amritsar Punjab mail.

23.NIFT, Delhi has been engaged for designing of bedroll etc.

24.E-ticketing portal in Hindi is ready for launch.

25.Online booking of retiring rooms functional. 

26.Instructions have been issued to provide mobile charging facilities in all new general class coaches. Mobile charging facilities will be provided in 3000 existing coaches in 2015-16.

27.E-concierge services started in 22 railway stations.

28.Online booking of retiring rooms functional. 

29.Instructions have been issued to provide mobile charging facilities in all new general class coaches. Mobile charging facilities will be provided in 3000 existing coaches in 2015-16.

SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT

30.E-concierge services started in 22 railway stations.

31.Instructions issued for TTEs to help senior citizens/pregnant women to get lower berths.

32.Instructions have been issued for reserving middle bay for women & Senior citizens.

33.E-Samiksha launched for on line monitoring of implementation of railway Budget announcements.

34.Instructions issued for organizing training of frontline staffs on soft skills.

35.E-demand system for booking freight demands on-line.

36.Tender powers delegated to zonal railway level.

37.E-tendering and e-auction introduced.

38.Railways singed MoU to set up its own Railway Design Centre in collaboration with  National Institute of Design (NID).

39.Railway constituted Kayakalp Council under the chairmanship of Ratan Tata.

40.The process for putting in place a regulator has been initiated.

41.MoU signed for Railway Research Centre at Mumbai University.

42.Indian Railways to use Solar Energy. 30 KW Solar Plant has been commissioned at roof top of Rail Bhawan at New Delhi. Katra Station now solar powered.

43.Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to provide the highest ever funding of Rs. 1.5 lakh crore to Indian Railways – a landmark achievement.

44.Three separate MOUs were signed with the states of Orissa, Jharkand and Chhatisgarh for critical coal connectivity projects to improve transportation of coal. 

INFRASTRUCTURE

45.In 2014-15,  1983 km of railway lines have been commissioned and 1375 km of railway electrification completed. This is the best ever performance of Indian Railways.

46.A new ‘Rail Neer’ plant for package drinking water set up at Ambernath (Mumbai).

47.Rail Wheel Plant, Bela commissioned and regular production started.

48.Diesel loco factory at Varanasi being expanded.

49.DEMU factory at Haldia was commissioned and Mid-life Rehabilitation Workshop for coaches at Jhansi completed.

50.Indian Railways and Ministry of Water Resources to jointly work for creating logistics hubs with rail connectivity on National Waterways.

51.The scheme of open bid on ‘as is where is’ basis introduced for redevelopment of railway stations.

52.Agreement for World Bank loan of US $ 1100 million for Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) (Phase-2) signed.

53.Electrification contract for 945 km of Western DFC awarded.

54.100 % FDI allowed in identified areas of railway sector and sectoral guidelines on FDI formulated.

55.New instructions have been issued on 10th April, 2015 to liberalize the private freight terminal policy.

56.Rail connectivity to Dighi Port approved through PPP. 

NORTH EAST

57.The much awaited Lumding-Silchar Broad gauge section inaugurated giving seamless BG connectivity to Barak Valley of Assam with the rest of the country.

58.Meghalaya comes on the rail map with the flagging off the first ever train from Guwahati to Medipathar in Meghalaya by the Prime Minister.

59.The Prime Minister laid the foundation for a new line to take rail connectivity to Mizoram’s capital Aizwal.

60.Director train connectivity started from Delhi to Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh.

61.The first ever perishable cargo centre set up Adarsh Nagar station in Delhi to help farmers.

FINANCIAL ACHIEVEMENTS

62.During 2014-15, the Railways’ total earnings were Rs.157880.50 crore, registering an increase of 12.16 per cent over last year.

63.During 2014-15, Railways carried 1097.578 million tonnes of revenue earning freight, showing an increase of 4.18 per cent over the last year.

64.Railways succeeded in achieving the 91.1% target of operating ratio in 2014-15 which is an improvement over 93.6% achieved in 2013-14.

HIGH SPEED TRAINS

65.Interim Report of feasibility study by Japan for Bullet Train on Mumbai-Ahemdabad corridor received. The final report expected in June/July 2015.  China to undertake feasibility study of introducing Bullet Train on New Delhi-Chennai corridor.

MISCELLANEOUS

66.  Indian Railways lent helping hand during the Nepal earthquake tragedy by providing ‘Rail Neer’ bottles and by transporting Nepal evacuees. Similarly, Railways also helped during the J&K floods. Railways were in the forefront in extending help to the Indian nationals returning from Yemen also.

Source :PIBNEWS.

Improvement in Railways’ Catering Services 

Improvement of catering services is an on-going process. Steps taken/being taken to further improve the catering services include (i)Third Party Audit of catering services to be conducted at periodic intervals by independent and reputed auditing agencies accredited by NABCB (National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies) as empanelled by the zonal railways. The parameters for audit include all aspects of catering services like personal hygiene, infrastructure facilities, cleaning and sanitation, food safety, storage facilities, implementation of regulatory, statutory and safety regulations, quality of presentation etc. (ii) Introduction of E-Catering so that passengers can book the food of their choice through internet. (iii) Introduction of Pre-cooked Food (ready to eat) meals of reputed brands to improve the quality, hygiene and to provide variety of options of meals to the passengers. (iv) A centralized Catering Service Monitoring Cell (CSMC) has been set up having a toll free number 1800-111-321 for prompt redressal of the passenger grievances related to the catering activities for real time assistance to travelling public. (iv) Imposition of stringent punitive action including heavy penalties in case of deficiencies in services. 

About 17,440 complaints have been reported regarding catering services in Railways during the last three years and current year (i.e. 01.01.2012 to 31.03.2015). Penal action has been taken on the defaulter licensees including termination of contracts in 9 cases and imposition of fines in 5903 cases. 

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today. 

Source :PIB News.

2015/4/26

30-04-2015

E-CATERING SERVICES OF IRCTC AVAILABLE IN 14 CENTRAL RAILWAY TRAINS

As a part of Railways’ endeavour to offer wide variety to passengers to choose from, IRCTC has started e-catering services on 138 trains out of 143 trains approved by Railway Board.  Out of 138 trains, 14 trains are originating or terminating on Central Railway.  The list of trains is given below: 

12201/12202 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Kochuveli Garib Rath Express

12187/12188 Jabalpur-Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus Mumbai Garib Rath Express

11035/11036 Dadar-Mysore Sharavati Express

11057/11058 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Amritsar Express

22629/22630 Dadar-Tirunelveli Express

15017/15018 Lokmanya Tilak Terminus-Gorakhpur Express via Allahabad

15029/15030 Pune-Gorakhpur Express 

Recently delivering of pizzas has also been introduced at 12 stations initially, which has now been extended to 29 more stations including  CST Mumbai, Nasik Road on CENTRAL RAILWAY and Mumbai Central on WESTER RAILWAY. 

Any passenger having valid confirmed reservation ticket may book the meal through website as well the phone. The trains in which e-catering services are available are also uploaded for information of the passengers. 

THE PROCESS OF BOOKING IS AS UNDER:

Passenger will enter the PNR. Stations list shall appear/display in drop down menu. Passenger may choose the station he/she wishes to book meal o­n. After which, vendor menu will open along with item prices.

Passenger may choose the vendor and the meals to be booked. Prices of meal will be displayed with the meals.

On confirmation of booking, e-payment for the transaction is to be made.

On completion of transaction, SMS and email shall be generated and sent to the customer as well as the service provider.

The SMS and email shall have the details of the order. The SMS content to passenger shall have an OTP (One Time Password) which will be used for verification by the service provider on the mobile application at the time of delivery of meal.

In addition to the above SMS and email at the time of booking of meal, SMS and email shall again be forwarded to the passenger 02 hours before the scheduled delivery time at the station for convenience of customer. 

Passengers with wait listed ticket in the select trains can book meal through e-catering on phone & SMS o­nly at 

Toll-free number -1800-1034-139 & 0120-4383892-99 (Toll) and SMS MEAL to 139. 

For further details visit www.ecatering.irctc.co.in.

E-Catering Service - More details Contact by Phone or SMS

E-Catering Facility will Be Launched Shortly On Select 25 Pairs Of Trains. 

For Further Details Please Call 1800-1034-139 (Toll Free)/ 0120-4383892-99 or SMS Meal <PNR> to 139.

IRCTC is tying up with reputed food suppliers across the country so as to offer a wide variety to passengers to choose from. IRCTC shall also be a platform to make available to passengers the popular food items/brands in the market, as an option to existing choices available.

While passengers having waitlisted as well as confirmed ticket may book meals over phone, the facility through website is available for passengers having valid confirmed reservation ticket only. The services are available from 0600 hrs to 2200 hrs, currently. At present, the minimum order value is Rs 60 per unit per location/station.

 IRCTC expands e-catering services

New Delhi: IRCTC, bouyed by the success of Phase-I of providing e-catering services, has extended this facility to a further 25 pairs of trains across the country from January 23, according to a recent press release.

Passengers can either call 1800 1034 139 (Toll free) or 0120 4383892-99 (8 lines) or order online at www.ecatering.irctc.co.in. The list of trains on which the facility is available is uploaded on the website.

IRCTC is tying up with reputed food suppliers across the country so as to offer a wide variety to passengers to choose from. IRCTC shall also be a platform to make available to passengers the popular food items/brands in the market, as an option to existing choices available.

While passengers having waitlisted as well as confirmed ticket may book meals over phone, the facility through website is available for passengers having valid confirmed reservation ticket only. The services are available from 0600 hrs to 2200 hrs, currently. At present, the minimum order value is Rs 60 per unit per location/station.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

Question: In how many trains is e-catering service available?

Answer: At present, the e-catering service is available in only limited number of trains running without pantry car. The list of 39 such trains (pair) is displayed in the website.

Question: What is e-catering?

Answer: "e-catering service has been started by IRCTC exclusively for passengers travelling in trains without pantry where passenger can book preferred meal through e-catering website as well as through phone and SMS also. The website address is www.ecatering.irctc.co.in and phone numbers are 1800-1034-139 (Toll-free), 0120-4383892-99 (Toll) and SMS MEAL to 139.

Question: How Can I book e-catering service through website?

Answer: Any passenger having valid confirmed reservation ticket may book the meal through website as well the phone. The trains in which e-catering services are available are also uploaded for information of the passengers. The process of booking is as under: -

Passenger will enter the PNR. Stations list shall appear/display in drop down menu. Passenger may choose the station he/she wishes to book meal on. After which, vendor menu will open along with item prices.

Passenger may choose the vendor and the meals to be booked. Prices of meal will be displayed with the meals.

On confirmation of booking, e-payment for the transaction is to be made.

On completion of transaction, SMS and email shall be generated and sent to the customer as well as the service provider.

The SMS and email shall have the details of the order. The SMS content to passenger shall have an OTP (One Time Password) which will be used for verification by the service provider on the mobile application at the time of delivery of meal.

In addition to the above SMS and email at the time of booking of meal, SMS and email shall again be forwarded to the passenger 02 hours before the scheduled delivery time at the station for convenience of customer. Further, an email shall also be sent to the passenger 24 hours before the scheduled delivery time at the station.

Question: How Can I book e-catering service through phone?

Answer: Passenger may book e-catering service by calling 1800-1034-139 (Toll-free), 0120-4383892-99 (Toll) for wait listed as well as confirmed ticket. The booking shall be made by the call center executive and subsequently, the passenger shall be informed of confirmed meal booking through SMS and email.

The SMS and email shall have the details of the order. The SMS content to passenger shall have an OTP which will be used for verification by the service provider on the mobile application at the time of delivery of meal.

In addition to the above SMS and email at the time of booking of meal, SMS and email shall again be forwarded to the passenger 02 hours before the scheduled delivery time at the station for convenience of customer. Further, an email shall also be sent to the passenger 24 hours before the scheduled delivery time at the station.

Question: How Can I book e-catering service through SMS?

Answer: Passenger may book e-catering service for waitlisted as well as confirmed ticket by SMS MEAL<PNR> to 139. Once the SMS is sent, the call center executive shall call to the customer for taking order, subsequently, the passenger shall be informed of confirmed booking through SMS and email.

The SMS and email shall have the details of the order. The SMS content to passenger shall have an OTP which will be used for verification by the service provider on the mobile application at the time of delivery of meal.

In addition to the above SMS and email at the time of booking of meal, SMS and email shall again be forwarded to the passenger 02 hours before the scheduled delivery time at the station for convenience of customer. Further, an email shall also be sent to the passenger 24 hours before the scheduled delivery time at the station.

Question: I have e-ticket, can I use e-catering?

Answer: Yes, this facility can be availed by passengers having valid reservation ticket either e-ticket Or ticket taken from reservation window.

Question: I am travelling in Shatabdi Express, can I book meal through e-catering.

Answer: Currently, this facility is available only in limited number of trains running without pantry car.

Question: My ticket is not confirmed and is wait listed, can I book the meal through e-catering?

Answer: Yes, passengers with wait listed ticket in the select trains can book meal through e-catering on phone & SMS only at Toll-free number -1800-1034-139 & 0120-4383892-99 (Toll) and SMS MEAL<PNR> to 139.

Question: I have booked 5 tickets against one PNR, out of which only 03 tickets are confirmed and 02 tickets are remained wait listed after preparation of chart? Shall I get the meals, which I have I booked through e-catering?

Answer: Yes, Partially confirmed tickets shall be treated as confirmed and food booking shall remain valid, unless cancelled by the passenger.

Question: Which meal can I Book through e-catering?

Answer: The rates along with meal are already available on website with specification. Passengers may choose the meal as per need and choice.

Question: My train is reaching at Agra at 2330 hrs, can I get meal through e-catering?

Answer: No, currently the services are available from 0600 hrs to 2200 hrs

Question: Will I get booked meal, if my train gets delayed?

Answer: Yes, the train shall be monitored; however, the passenger, if so desired, may cancel the meal as per the terms & conditions.

Question: What are the Terms & Conditions?

Answer: The terms & conditions are available on website.

Question: How will I make payment for meal booked?

Answer: Passengers can make payment through e-payment, if meal is booked on website and in case of meal ordered through phone & SMS, the payment is to be made in cash to the delivery staff at the time of receiving the pre-ordered meal.

Question: What is the minimum order value for the booking?

Answer: At present, the minimum order value is Rs. 60 per unit (vendor) per location/station.

Question: What is OTP?