On Wednesday, the availability of fresh meals on certain premium long-distance trains was affected, while fried snacks at suburban stations are expected to vanish from railway stalls. The Indian Railways are starting to experience the effects of the LPG shortage caused by the conflict in West Asia.
Sources from the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) have reported that the cloud kitchen in Sewri, which prepares meals for 4,500 passengers daily on the Central and Western railways, was unable to function due to an LPG shortage.
The Sewri cloud kitchen provides meals to high-end trains like the Vande Bharat Express, Rajdhani Express, Duronto Express, Shatabdi, and Tejas Express. According to railway officials, as a precaution, they have stored ready-to-eat food items in the pantry car of the Rajdhani Express leaving from CSMT.
In Mumbai, suburban travelers might also face inconvenience as their preferred snacks like vadas, samosas, and bread pakoda will not be available since preparing fried foods demands significant amounts of LPG. Additionally, some freshly prepared items like idli and poha might also vanish from the food stalls at railway stations.
A food stall owner, who operates stalls at several stations on both the Western and Central railways, mentioned that the LPG supply would last for about a week. He added that large electric stoves and induction cookers for commercial purposes are costly, making them impractical to buy.
In the Mumbai division of the Western Railway, there are over 460 food stalls, with 264 located on the Churchgate-Dahanu suburban line. The Central Railway features 194 food stalls, with 152 situated along the CSMT-Karjat/Kasara/Panvel routes in its suburban network.
In light of the impending crisis, the IRCTC has issued a notice to catering license holders across the railways, instructing them to maintain continuous food services for passengers. The letter advises them to adopt alternative cooking methods, such as microwaves and induction, to counter any possible LPG supply shortages.
Consequently, compact electric induction stoves are being introduced at certain food stalls to warm pre-cooked meals that must be served hot.
There are worries about potential reductions in catering services on long-distance trains. According to IRCTC sources, the situation is currently stable but remains unpredictable.
Satish Kumar, the Chairperson and CEO of the Railway Board, has reached out to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas regarding the LPG needed for critical train operation services, such as those in crew running rooms. The Railway Board has asked for a continuous supply of approximately 8,000 LPG cylinders at 340 stations across different divisions of the Indian Railways.
