Railways Will Remove Pantry Cars From 350 Trains & Earn Rs 1400 Crore Extra: But How?

As train services are getting back to normal, the Indian Railways is thinking of removing pantry cars from around 350 trains with the view of maintaining hygiene.

Read on to know more…

Replacement of Pantry Cars Will Earn Rs 1,400 Crore!

Reportedly, the All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF), the top railway employees’ body wrote to the Railway Ministry wanting the removal of pantry cars and replacing it with coaches, which in turn will help the railways generate revenue.

The pantry cars are likely to be replaced with AC-3 tire coaches. 

Over 350 pairs of trains presently, including mail/express, superfast and premier services, have pantry cars. 

According to Indian Railways, travelers can be supplied packaged food prepared in the base kitchen. Also, e-catering will be open for the provision of food for passengers. 

The experts in the industry feel that the hygiene in the base kitchens at major stations will be maintained efficiently than that in the pantry car.

An unnamed official was quoted by Deccan Harald, “Already IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering Touring Corporation), which is responsible for catering in railways, already set up several base kitchens. In future also it will set more kitchens in different places and supply hot cooked packed food to passengers.”

Replacing the pantry cars with AC-1 tire coaches can earn an additional revenue of Rs 1,400 crore.

Earlier, Indian Railways had removed the blankets, bedsheets, and curtains from AC coaches of long-distance trains in a bid to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The railways which are operating only special trains had also stopped the operation of the kitchen.  

Indian Railways Adapting To The New Normal!

As of late, Indian Railways has undertaken many infrastructure-related projects.

Last month, the national transporter had announced that once trains start operating normally, it is planning to stop 500 trains and around 10,000 stops under its ‘zero timetables’ initiative.

Earlier this month, the railways had announced that in the near future, trains operating at a speed of 130 kmph or more above will have only AC coaches. Under this project, the existing class coach with 72 berths will be replaced by an AC coach with 83 berths.