The document discusses railway catering in India. It explains that the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) was formed on September 27, 1999 to handle catering, tourism, and online ticketing for Indian Railways. IRCTC oversees two types of railway catering - transit catering which provides food on long trains journeys, and terminal catering where passengers can purchase food at stations. IRCTC outsources catering to companies who supply food from central kitchens to trains through a network of restaurants.

2. Introduction
As we all know, railways are a major part of the common
mans life. So is food.
The need arose for good food to be served to passengers
on trains especially if they have a long and arduous
journey ahead of them.
Today, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism
Corporation, a subsidiary of the Indian Railways, handles
the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the
railways.

3. History of railway catering
Before the introduction of a mobile catering system, food was packed from
homes and sent with the traveler.
September 27th, 1999.
It was a great day. It was the day the IRCTC was formed. This has
changed the lives of millions of people due to the requirement of extra
manpower, and has made it more convenient for the countless railway
travelers throughout the year.
Having food provided during journeys not only lightens the passenger’s
weight load but also allows them to buy food on the train, ensuring them
their pre travel convenience.

4. Types of railway catering
Transit catering- this deals with food that is served to
passengers while they are travelling. This is usually the
case in superfast trains that don’t stop often because the
journey is short.
Terminal Catering- At every station there are food
establishments where passengers can get down when the
train breaks to eat food.
In both cases, the IRCTC outsources the food to certain
companies who are legally bound by contracts and tenders
to serve high quality food.

5. How its done
The IRCTC looks at all the applicants for catering and
selects a few. They then work out a contract/tender which
the party is obliged to follow.
The caterers, based on the city and the railway stops,
decide how best to serve food to the passengers.
There can either be one caterer in charge of one station
(i.e they serve lunch and dinner to trains passing through)
OR one caterer for a particular route. This is decided in
accordance with the IRCTC’s approval.

6. There are usually base/central
kitchens at every station or along a
route that prepare the food in bulk
and package it if necessary.
This is then stored at proper
conditions and is loaded on to the
trains into their pantry when they
stop briefly.
The railway staff then serve this to
customers as per their request.

7. Functioning examples
Travelkhana is the pioneer railway catering service at
major railway stations across India with over 1000
restarants.
Whether it is Pizza, Biryani, Non Veg food, Jain food or a
Simple Thali in a Train - Travelkhana.com delivers them
through its vast network
One can select the journey date, choose a restaurant and
station of one’s choice and place an order right away.
Their listed restaurants will readily accept group bookings
for food across listed stations, and all orders are delivered
right to one’s seat.

8. There are several similar startups like
Comesum.com, Merafoodchoice.com,
Yatrachef.com, Deliveryuncle.com, Raildarbar.com,
Trainkhana.com and so on.