Railways to Resume Serving Cooked Food to Passengers on Trains

New directions: Indian railways and intercity bus segment.

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Passengers can now get cooked and ready-to-eat food onboard trains as the Indian Railways Board has decided to lift the restrictions that were put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Railway Board asked its its tourism and catering arm Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to resume the services on Friday, 19 November.

"In view of the restoration of normal train services, requirements of travelling passengers and easing of Covid lockdown restrictions in eateries, restaurants, hotels and such other places across the country, it has been decided by the Ministry of Railways to resume the services of cooked food in trains. Service of ready-to-eat meals will also continue," the a letter to the IRCTC said, news agency PTI reported.

Earlier this month, Railways had decided to discontinue special trains and revert to the pre-COVID regular services. It decided to drop the "special" tag and run mail and express trains with their usual names, numbers and fares.

The Civil Aviation Ministry also recently allowed airlines to serve meals on all domestic flights.

Since 15 April, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, air carriers were not allowed to serve in-flight meals, which were less than two hours of duration.