Despite the efforts of the Indian Railways to make their train journeys comfortable and memorable, the food served on board continues to cause agony to passengers and bring it a bad name. On Sunday evening, the prestigious Hazarat Nizamuddin-Bengaluru Rajdhani Express from New Delhi to Bengaluru was halted for more than 40 minutes by irate passengers complaining about stale food being served.
The lunch wheeled in and served at Nagpur was supposed to be bad and the curd was even smelling. Passengers alighted at Secunderabad railway station on Sunday evening and did not allow the train to start till the top officials of the South Central Railway (SCR) pacified them.
As the same contractor was serving dinner too, railway officials here on the directions of General Manager Vinod Kumar Yadav not only checked the food being served, but also picked up samples of the lunch which caused all the commotion. “We also sent a supervisor for the rest of the journey to put the passengers at ease,” senior railway officials informed on Tuesday.
Mr. Yadav, on his part, called for a comprehensive report from the station officials and based on the information received, he talked to the IRCTC senior officials and also his counterpart General Manager of the South Western Railway to apprise them on the entire issue. Although the incident did not relate to SCR, he wanted the officials here to be alert so that a passenger is delivered optimal services.
An official of the IRCTC, however, insisted that only two passengers travelling in a three-tier compartment complained about food “only after reaching Secunderabad” and a complaint was registered on board after it left the station.
