The East Coast Railway has nominated Puri-Howrah-Puri Duronto Express and Bhubaneswar-New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Duronto Express trains for making catering service optional from today.
The ECoR’s nomination of two trains under its jurisdiction was made in view of the Indian Railways making catering service optional in few selected trains on a trial basis for six months from August1 , 2017.
Passengers can now opt out of the catering facility offered by IRCTC while booking their tickets. This would mean tickets on these trains are going to cost less compared to those with pre-booked meals, an official said.
“Passengers, however, cannot change their option during the journey once they opt out. This scheme will be implemented for six months subject to mid-term review after three months,” the official said.
The catering charges shall be included in the ticket fare only in case passengers opt for catering services and excluded in case passengers do not require catering services. Passengers will not be allowed to change their options at any point of time once they exercise option at the time of booking.
No partial catering service will be provided to passengers under this scheme, thus the option will also include/exclude complete catering service between pairs of stations.