Indian Railways to install vending machines to serve food on trains

The customers will be able to choose products of their choice at maximum retail price and can make payment either through cash or card.

New Delhi, June 30: In a bid to deal with passengers’ complains of getting stale or overpriced food, the Indian Railways is planning to install a vending machine which will dispense ready-to-eat food to the passengers 24X7. The service is likely to start with the debut of Utkrisht Double-Decker AC Yatri (Uday) Express.

The customers will be able to choose products of their choice at maximum retail price and can make payment either through cash or card, the Economic Times reported.

The vending machine will be installed in every third coach of a train. It will give a brief description of the meal selected along with its price on the screen. It will have eatables in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian categories.

Uday Express is likely to attract business travellers and will run on the busy routes such as Delhi-Lucknow. The train will run overnight to cater to the travellers who would start in the night and reach in the morning to save on their hotel expense.

Uday will run at a speed of 110 kilometers per hour. With 40 per cent more carrying capacity than other trains, it will help the railways clear the rush on busy routes. It is one of the four ambitious trains that Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had introduced in  Budget 2016-17.