• Source:JND
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In a bid to enhance passenger experience, commuters can now enjoy delicacies from McDonald’s, McDonald, KFC, Pizza Hut, Baskin-Robbins, Bikanerwala and Haldiram while travelling in trains through the ‘Premium Brand Catering Outlets’. The outlets will function as premium single-brand food outlets, similar to those seen at airports. The decision was taken after a recommendation from the South Central Railway.

In a circular issued to all the Zonal Railways on Thursday, November 13, the Railway Board permitted the launch of these popular food brands. As per the circular, these food brands may be company-owned or run by franchisees, and their selection will be followed through the standard e-auction policy of the Indian Railways.

The amendment also adds a new category, Premium Brand Catering Outlet in the Indian Railways Catering Policy, 2017. Currently, only three types of stalls were authorised to sell refreshments at stations: 

  • Beverage stalls (selling items like tea, coffee, milk, and juice)

  • Snack stalls

  • Light refreshment stalls 

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How Will These Premium Stalls Be Set Up?

As per the circular, single-brand outlets will be allowed wherever there is sufficient demand and justification. All the outlets will be integrated into the stations wherever necessary without hampering the existing quotas of catering stalls. Special zones will be laid out at high-footfall stations without disturbing reservation quotas for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs, freedom fighters’ families, and land-displaced persons who currently receive priority for many catering stalls.

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The timing of this policy shift comes at a time when Indian Railways is aiming at the redevelopment of stations across cities. More than 1,200 stations are currently being upgraded under various national programmes, including the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme. As stations get sleeker, more spacious and more commercially integrated, the presence of high-street food brands no longer seems like a luxury, but rather an expected amenity.

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