In Shatabdi,menu to have space for ‘choice’

Officials are planning to frequently alter the breakfast and dinner menu in the train. A plan in this regard has been proposed by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The menu will be changed in the Kalka-Amritsar and Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi trains.

“We already change the menu every week in trains from Delhi. We have a similar plan for the Amritsar-New Delhi Shatabdi Express,” a senior IRCTC official told Newsline. “The dinner menu will be altered every day. The idea is to break the monotony,especially for frequent passengers.”

Menu options may include South Indian,Continental and regional food. Breakfast,on the other hand,may have options like Upma,Idli and Dosa.

“We are working towards making travel comfortable for passengers. We take their complaints very seriously. On average,we get around 700 suggestions about improvement in food and other areas daily,” Aneet Dulat,Chief Regional Manager of IRCTC,told Newsline.

“We’re working on altering the menu in the Kalka-New Delhi Shatabdi. We hope to make the changes soon.”

Complaints about food and catering have been a regular feature in the Shatabdi Express. Sources said most of the complaints were about unhygienic conditions of food storage and monotonous menu.

“The breakfast lacks nutritive value and every time one travels one gets to eat the same old food. The authorities can make changes like including sandwiches in the menu,” Brigadier (Retd) R S Dhillon,a frequent passenger,said.

The IRCTC,meanwhile,will set up a Jan Ahaar food outlet at the Chandigarh railway station. All meals at the outlet,including regional food items,will be priced under Rs 20.