Indian Railways has now permitted the e-catering services to resume in the trains. Train e-catering service has been affected adversely for the last several months.
They will now be permitted to resume functions depending upon the feasibility, availability of staff and local restrictions.
Food delivery on trains will be permitted at select stations across the nation, subject to the service providers following the operation instructions issued by the local governing authorities.
This announcement has come after Manish Chandra, CEO and Founder, RailRestro, had written to the Ministry of Railways and IRCTC officials to allow the caterers services in the trains.
RailRestro, an IRCTC-authorized e-catering wing, has received confirmation from the Ministry of Railways and is set to operate from the last week of January 2021.
“All the restaurant partners have been asked to ensure hygienic and contactless deliveries,” said Kriti Raj, Public Relations Manager at RailRestro.
The company has laid down strict guidelines which include thermal scanning of the restaurant’s staff and delivery personnel several times during the operational hours, sanitization of kitchens daily at regular intervals, use of protective face masks or face shields by restaurant staff and delivery personnel and permission to prepare food only if the body temperature is below 99°F.
The guidelines for their delivery staff has also been mentioned. These include collecting orders only after washing hands, mandatory use of ‘Aarogya Setu’ app by delivery personnel, contactless delivery to ensure zero human contact, constant use of protective face masks or covers and sanitization of delivery bags after each delivery.
