Tasty Treat on trains – Travel Khana

Indian Railways is considered the lifeline of passenger transport in our country. It offers the cheapest mode of transport for millions. However, anyone who has travelled by Indian railways can never vouch for the quality of the food served onboard. It is more of a case of filling your mouth without bothering about the taste and food quality. Apart from the poor quality, railway pantry cars are known to serve unhygienic food as well!

Fortunately, a lot of private operators have emerged as an alternative to the lacklustre catering service provided by Indian Railways. Food on train companies like Travel Khana, YatraChef, Thaliwale now provide unique food delivery services, offering a widespread choice of food for travellers. Not forgetting to mention that quality and taste are the topmost factor on agenda as far as food on train is concerned.

Travel Khana has been the pioneer in offering food on train, which established its business in 2012. The company offered something that Indian railway travellers never experienced – quality food from the restaurant of their choice! The website caters to multiple railway junctions and major cities, offering a choice of Indian, Continental and Chinese food cuisine for both vegetarian and non-vegetarian customers. Pushpinder Singh, the company’s CEO says, “Be it Bhopal’s Celebration Restaurant or the much celebrated Biryani of Paradise Restaurant in Hyderabad, we provide a wide array of food to our customers!”

“Travel Khana was never a pet project. But when we started, we have been customers to the food available on Indian Railways, which is distant from anywhere one can call a standard. We have travelled in public transport systems, including buses, but the condition of train food remains as sad as it was 20 years ago. The main concern is not because of the management team, but more due to the lack of choices, which Travel Khana promises to alter. As we all know, our website gives the best food choices on selected trains and stations, and that’s something we are not happy about. We want all customers in maximum stations to have choices for the food they choose to pay for,” added Pushpinder Singh.

The process of ordering food is easy. All one has to do is to pick up the phone or order online. Travellers have access to a few quality restaurants, which cover the route they are travelling on. These restaurants are verified and tested based on stringent quality parameters. To order food is an easy task: select the website first, and then choose the date and the focal points of your travel. Once this is done, a list of restaurants catering to that particular route will come up. Then, you need to pick your choice of restaurant, select the type of food and order it. Once an order is placed, you will get a confirmation in the form of mobile SMS.

When you place an order, convenient payment options are available in form of net banking, debit cards and cash on delivery. If you choose to avail the cash-on-delivery option, keep the exact amount of change in hand for a hassle-free delivery. You can also make advance orders for a future date of journey. It is not necessary that you have to travel to order food; you can also gift a packet of food for your near and dear ones as well.

The online catering of food does offer several advantages over the traditional way of ordering food. One can order food round the clock and the process is much faster. Secondly, one would be able to see a wide range of menu options. Last but not the least, one can see restaurant reviews along with their ratings, given by fellow customers.

With an aim to expand its reach to hundreds of stations and trains, Travel Khana will be soon adding new vendors for different states and include more stations and trains to its list for quick food ordering. The website is already in talks with many well known food chains and vendors and has given a handy railway timetable for its customers to understand bookings better. Currently, the website offers choices of vegetarian and non-vegetarian food along with Jain food choices for some of the stations listed and for special religious journeys. So with all these options, let’s hope the stale food on trains will be a thing of the past!