In India when it comes to travelling, Indian Railways always takes the lead. Car rides can be exhausting with little to no leg space and air fare is expensive for an average middle class Indian. This is why 70% and more of the Indian population prefer to travel by rail. Journeys are comfortable and the quality of the food is also hygenic thereby making your worry about healthy scrumptious food, void.
There are plenty of way in which you can get food in the train:
Pantry Car: A pantry Car is usually attached to a train, lying between a sleeper car and an AC coach. The pantry Car has food options available to suit your hunger pangs and dedicated staff to assist you better.
- Online ordering: If you feel the food on the train is not according to your taste, you can order online via the IRCTC website. IRCTC has a strong customer base which makes them efficient and fast making it the best option for Train food Service. You can order online through IRCTC E-Catering. The steps to do it are as follows: First you visit the site ecatering.irctc.co.in and put forward the 10 digit PNR code. PNR stands for passenger name record. Now the passenger needs to select the station he/she wants the food at. After this a new page will appear. This page has the food prices so you can budget accordingly. The passenger can now select the vendor and what he wants to eat. The next step is payment which can be done securely through many payment modes. Cash on delivery option is also there incase it's your first time and you're a little apprehensive. Whatever food you've ordered is going to get delivered in the station you've entered while you sit in the comfort of your seat. Once this is over, the service provider and the passenger both will get an email and a SMS that gives in the details of the order placed. It is important to give the OTP to the delivery person so that it can be verified to know if the person accepting the order is the same as the one who placed it.
- Book your meal via a call: The passenger can also order his meal by dialling the number 1323. The food will take some time to get delivered so it should be done an hour in advance. Again the service is provided right at your seat.
- Book your meal via SMS: A passenger can order his or her food on the train by typing MEAL and sending it to 139. This allows the delivery to be given whenever you want, wherever you want.
- If you need to cancel your food order incase you've opted for something by mistake or for some other reason, you need to do it atleast two hours before the delivery of the meal takes place. The refund for this will take atleast 3 days.
IRCTC also runs a customer care service through which you can lodge whatever complaints you have about the quality of the food or anything else. The Food On Track app can be downloaded on your phone through which you can order a full blown four course meal while travelling.
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