NEW DELHI: Seeking to explore the possibility of making mandatory catering services optional on trains, Railways has decided to put it on trial on two Rajdhanis and two Shatabdis on a pilot basis for 45 days.
The trial, beginning June 15, is to be conducted to ascertain the cuisine choices of travelling passengers and provide them with local food choices.
The four premium pairs of trains where such a trial is to be conducted are Nizamuddin-Mumbai Central August Kranti Rajdhani, New Delhi-Patna Rajdhani, Pune-Secunderabad Shatabdi Express and Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, in his 2016-17 budget speech, had announced that trials would be conducted to explore the possibility of making mandatory catering services optional on trains.
During the trial, catering services will be included by default. However, passengers have to specifically ‘opt out’ from the mandatory food option, and catering charges will be excluded from the ticket fare. Also, passengers will not be allowed to change their options at any point of time once they exercise such an option at the time of booking their tickets. (AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
