Pantry cars being phased out on Indian Railways

Pantry cars that used to be an integral part of long distance trains in India are on their way out because of the push towards e-catering that is being introduced by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). Therefore, the Indian Railways has begun to withdraw pantry cars from long-distance trains.
However, this may not go down too well with passengers just yet because many trains from which pantry car services have been withdrawn pass through stations that do not cater to e-catering services during breakfast, lunch or dinner time. Obviously, passengers traveling in such trains would either have to carry their food or depend on unscrupulous private caterers for their meals.
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 3 November 2015.

Examples are the Howrah-Dehradun Upasana Express and the Howrah-Haridwar Kumbha Express.
Eastern Railway have announced that pantry cars on these trains will be discontinued from November and have provided a solution of sorts.
Both these trains originate from Howrah at 1 pm so lunch is not an issue on the day the journey starts. Passengers can either reach the station after an early lunch or order from Howrah that has e-catering services. Evening snacks can be picked up at Asansol and dinner at Patna as both stations have e-catering facilities.
however, passengers would face problems next afternoon with lunch because, there are no stations between Lucknow Charbagh and Haridwar or Dehradun that has e-catering facilities.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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