Indian Railways To Offer Meal At Rs 20, Bottled Water To General Coach Passengers

The Indian Railways has decided to offer affordable meals and packaged water designed specially for general coach passengers to make their travel experience better, officials said on Wednesday. Counters serving these meals would be placed on platforms aligning with the general coaches, according to an order issued by the Railway Board. The meals have been divided into two categories. The type one includes seven 'pooris' with dry 'aaloo' and pickle for a price of Rs 20. The type two meal would cost Rs 50 and offer passengers something from an assortment of South Indian food such as rice, rajma, chhole, khichdi kulche, bhature, pao-bhaji and masala dosa.

The Railway Board has issued instructions to officials concerned to make provision of economy meals and affordable packaged drinking water to be served through counters to be placed at platform near GS coaches. GS coaches refers to the general seating coach. It is a second class unreserved coach. Normally every train including mail/express trains have atleast two GS coaches one near the locomotive and one at the end of the train.

Anyone with a General/Unreserverd ticket bought from counter can travel in those compartments. The meals are to be supplied from the kitchen units (Refreshment Rooms – RRs and Jan Ahaars - JAs) of IRCTC," the order stated.. The location of these counters is to be decided by railway zones so as to align these counters with the location of GS coaches on platforms, it said. The provision of this extended service counters at the platforms has been done on an experimental basis for a period of six months.

As of now, the provision has been implemented at 51 stations and it will be available at 13 more from Thursday. Officials said that efforts are being made to provide drinking water glasses of 200 ml at these counters. Officials said this has been started for passenger convenience specially in these coaches which are often overcrowded.