Indian Railways on July 15 issued an order, which says that the passengers travelling in premium trains will be charged Rs50 more as a sort of prebooking for the catering services. This will be applicable only to passengers who opt for the catering services at the time of booking tickets. These charges will pertain to all premium trains, including Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Duronto Express, Vande Bharat Express and Tejas Express.
If passengers want to avail the catering services but have not opted for them while booking the tickets, they will be charged significantly more for every meal. For Rajdhani, Duronto and Shatabdi Express in 1A or EC compartments, a passenger has to pay Rs190 instead of Rs140 for breakfast and evening snacks. For lunch and dinner, charges would be Rs290 instead of Rs240. Passengers travelling in 2AC, 3A and CC compartments will have to pay Rs155 instead of Rs105 for breakfast, Rs140 instead of Rs90 for evening refreshments and Rs235 instead of Rs185 for lunch and dinner.
As for passengers travelling on Vande Bharat Express, breakfast will cost Rs205 instead of Rs155, and evening snacks will be served at Rs155 instead of Rs105. Passengers will have to pay Rs294 instead of Rs244 for lunch and dinner. Tejas Express, too, will charge similar prices for the three meals.
According to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)’s earlier norms, if a person did not book their meal with the train ticket, they would be charged an extra Rs50. This would apply even if the passenger wanted to order just an Rs20 cup of tea or coffee.
