Train 18, which is going to be launched on February 15 by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, plans to delight the taste buds of its travellers from Delhi to Varanasi. For the breakfast, muffins and donuts will be available whereas, a piping-hot lunch from an expensive restaurant in Allahabad as well as a five-star dinner from a hotel in Kanpur, all this will definitely make the passengers journey on Train 18 more incredible.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has selected to contract out catering setups and operations for the train. The train is also called the Vande Bharat Express and is set to run at 160 kmph. By providing good meals in Train 18, it is an effort to advance the quality of food offered to the passengers.
An IRCTC official said, “We have tied up with a hotel in Kanpur and dinner will be loaded there. Dinner will be served from Kanpur onwards for passengers coming from Varanasi and going to New Delhi. For travel between New Delhi and Varanasi, we will have lunch at Allahabad. The food outlet has not been finalised yet but it will be of a good brand”.
IRCTC is a subordinate of Indian Railways and handles services like catering, tourism and online ticketing tasks.
The official said the food is going to be packed in such a manner that it would stay warm till the time it is served. The serving staff on the train and the marketable procedures will start from February 17, 2019 onwards. They will be trained to be polite to passengers and provide hand sanitizers at meal times.
The IRCTC official further added, “For breakfast in the morning, we will not be serving the regular Indian Railway breakfast of cutlet and bread. There will be patties, muffins and donuts for breakfast”.
For the period of a trial run in the late last year, Train 18 turn out to be India’s fastest train when it hit a speed of 180 kmph.
The Delhi-Varanasi Train 18 will complete its passage in almost eight hours, all through which the passengers will be served breakfast, lunch and snacks. The train has also two classes of tickets such as executive class and chair car, which comprises of catering charges and the goods and services tax (GST).
As per the senior Indian Railway official, a traveller who is travelling from New Delhi to Varanasi by executive class will have to pay Rs 3,310 whereas, a chair car ticket is priced at Rs 1,760. On the other hand an executive class ticket from Allahabad to Varanasi charges Rs 905 and a chair car ticket on the unchanged track Rs 460, the official added.
The train has also rotating seats, which can be line up in the course of travel in the executive class. The trains also comprises of bio-vacuum system toilets, integrated luggage racks with a glass bottom and sliding doors in coaches.
Another Indian Railway official said, “We are trying to give passengers on this ‘Make in India’ train a world-class experience. From cleanliness to food, everything has been decided carefully to enhance passenger experience”.
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