Business News Desk, Passengers traveling in trains often complain about food. Especially in long distance trains, it is common to question the quality of food. However, now Indian Railways has found a solution to this. IRCTC is preparing to convert the base kitchen of the train into a cloud kitchen, which has started from Mumbai.
200 cloud kitchens will be built
The experiment of cloud kitchen has started in Mumbai. IRCTC has implemented cloud kitchen in some trains for the last one month. 200 cloud kitchens have been set up in Western Railway Zone. After Maharashtra, cloud kitchens will also be started in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. According to a senior IRCTC official, cloud kitchens will be built in areas like Powai, Kurla, Panvel, Thane and Chembur in Mumbai. Kurla’s cloud kitchen has already started. If the data is to be believed, IRCTC is focusing on building 90 cloud kitchens in Maharashtra. Out of these, work on 50 cloud kitchens has been completed and food is supplied in trains from them.
Kurla Cloud Kitchen begins operations
The Kurla Cloud Kitchen located on LBS Road in Mumbai has the largest kitchen. It can prepare lunch, breakfast and dinner for 4000 people. After the food is prepared in Kurla, it is kept in cold storage vans and transported to long distance trains. This food reaches the passengers from the pantry car of the train.
7 year contract
The contract of cloud kitchen will be given to different caterers for 7 years. In this cloud kitchen, cleanliness and quality of food is strictly monitored. For now, the railways is dependent on a few selected stations for food related items. For example, Mumbai’s base kitchen is present at CSMT and Mumbai Central station, where food for 8000-12000 people is prepared every day. However, after the cloud kitchen is built, the dependence on the base kitchen will end.
Caterers will be fined
Food is supplied to Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Tejas and even Vande Bharat Express from the base kitchens present at railway stations. However, food often gets spoiled in long distance trains. But now after the operation of cloud kitchens starts, food can be delivered to trains from different places. If the quality of food is found to be poor, then caterers can be fined from Rs 5000 to Rs 50,000.
