Tour Packages For Gatimaan Express Travellers

Tour Packages For Gatimaan Express Travellers

Ministry of Railways

04-May, 2016

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation has started operating two different tour packages for those travelling in Gatimaan Express. The one day comprehensive package offers visit to Agra Fort and Taj Mahal in AC vehicle, food at hotel, guide etc. The two days / one night comprehensive package offers visit to Agra Fort, Itmad-ud-Daula’s tomb, Mehtab Bagh, Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and Sikandra in AC Vehicle, food, accommodation at hotel, guide etc.

This Press Release is based on information given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 04.05.2016 (Wednesday).

PIB

Handing over of the Railway Catering System to IRCTC

Handing over of the Railway Catering System to IRCTC

As announced in the Rail Budget Speech 2016-17, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) would begin to manage catering service in a phased manner.

The objectives of transferring the catering services from Railways to IRCTC were not fulfilled, as IRCTC could not professionalize the catering services. Therefore, the management of catering services were taken back by Railways from IRCTC as per the provisions of Catering Policy, 2010 .

In 2015, Sreedhran Committee, set up by the Ministry of Railways recommended transfer of catering services back to IRCTC since IRCTC was setup as an extended arm of the Indian Railways to professionalize catering services on Indian Railways. It has been decided to give back the catering services to IRCTC in a phased manner with unbundling catering services by creating a distinction primarily between food preparation and food distribution. In order to address the problems faced earlier, it has been decided that there will be no complete handing over of catering service by IRCTC to private licensees and Zonal Railways will have powers of supervision and monitoring.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 04.03.2016 (Friday).

PIB

Provision of E-Catering Facilities in Railways

Provision of E-Catering Facilities in Railways

In order to widen the range of food options available to passengers, E-catering services have been introduced, through Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in trains without pantry car or Train Side Vending as well as on 45 designated stations from where passengers of originating/passing trains can avail of this facility. The details of stations selected for this purpose are as follows:-

Howrah, Sealdah, Guwahati, New Jalpaiguri, Patna, Bhubaneshwar, Visakhapatnam, Mughalsarai Junction (Jn.), Kanpur Central, Lucknow Jn., Varanasi, Jaipur, Bilaspur, Kharagpur, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Anand Vihar Terminal, Hazarat Nizamuddin, New Delhi, Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Secunderabad, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Ernakulam Jn., Kozhikkode, Madurai Jn., Thrisur, Tiruvananthapuram Central, Bangalore City, Yasvantpur, Nagpur, Pune, Agra Cantt., Gwalior, Jhansi, Bhopal, Ahmedabad Mumbai Central, Surat & Vadodara. IRCTC has tied up with renowned, reputed and established brands in the field of catering services so that the passengers can order good quality and hygienic food of their choice. Further, Janta Khana is also being made available through E-catering services.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

PIB

Indian Railways starts collecting feedback about basic amenities through phones using IVRS based system

Indian Railways starts collecting feedback about basic amenities through phones using IVRS based system

Ministry of Railways
Press Information Bureau,
Government of India.

17-July, 2015

Railway PSU IRCTC entrusted with this task of collecting feedback

With a view to improve passenger amenities in running trains and stations, Indian Railways has started collecting feedback from the public about the basic amenities from this month. Collecting this kind of feedback is in line with the emphasis given by Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on the best connect between railway administration and railway users.

The job of collecting this significant feedback has been entrusted to its own PSU namely “Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC)”. The feedback is being collected by IRCTC through Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) with the number +91-139. Under this system, travelling passengers are being contacted randomly on their mobile phones to gather their feedback about the facilities provided by the Railways in six areas, namely, cleanliness of station/platform/train, quality of catering, level of cooling of AC, quality of food, punctuality of train and quality of bedrolls.

Out of the six facilities, a passenger is asked to send his/her feedback on only two facilities. They are given three options of pressing on mobile – 2 (Two) for Good, 1(one) for Satisfactory and 0(Zero) for unsatisfactory/Bad – with regard to a particular amenity.

On an average 60-70 calls per day per train are being made and efforts are done to make approximately one lakh successful calls per day to passengers of mail / express trains.

The feedback will help improve passenger amenities and also help fix accountability of service providers.
PIB

Railways to Launch Ticket Booking through Non-Internet based Mobile Phones with Effect from 1st July 2013

Railways to Launch Ticket Booking through Non-Internet based Mobile Phones with Effect from 1st July 2013

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Railways

17-June-2013 13:06 IST

Railways to Launch Ticket Booking through Non-Internet based Mobile Phones with Effect from 1st July 2013

With an aim to further facilitate the passengers, Indian Railways Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC),a public Sector Undertaking of the Ministry of Railways, will be launching a pilot project of ticketing through non-internet based mobile phones with effect from 1st July 2013. This will enable people using non-internet based mobile phones to easily access Railway ticketing services through SMS/IVRS/USSD. The scheme is user-friendly, secure and also eco-friendly, as no print out is required.

Indian Railways has continuously endeavored to improve the ease and access of ticketing. The e-ticketing initiative of Indian Railways has been one of the most passenger-friendly initiatives of Indian Railways. In order to further expand the reach of ticketing, the Minister of Railways had made a Budget announcement regarding launch of ticketing through mobile phones was announced in the Railway Budget. The objective was to tap the potential of mobile phone market in India and thereby facilitate the common man, by providing him any-where any-time and hassle free booking option.

The salient features of this new scheme to be operationalised on1st July, 2013 are:

• There will be a dedicated number on which SMS can be sent.

• No need of internet at any stage viz. booking, payment, cancellation etc.

• One has to register the mobile number with IRCTC as well as one’s bank. The Bank (one time password) for authorization of payment.

• The passenger has to type the train number, destination, journey date, class and passenger details like name, age and gender on the SMS box.

• The sender will receive transaction ID and then make payment through sending another SMS by typing PAY followed by the transaction ID, MMID as received from the bank and password.

• On successful booking of ticket, message will be sent to the user by IRCTC which will suffice as valid authority to travel along with photo ID card in original.

• Cancellation of tickets can also be done through the cancellation option available.

• The scheme will be on pilot basis and will not be available during the 8 am - 12 pm for booking ARP/Tatkal/General tickets.

Railways Launches Toll Free Helpline Number for Catering Related Complaints

Press Information Bureau 

Government of India

Ministry of Railways 

23-January-2013 20:25 IST

Railways Launches Toll Free Helpline Number for Catering Related Complaints 

The Ministry of Railways has set up a central monitoring cell with the toll free number i.e. 1800-111-321 for the convenience of railway users to register their complaints regarding railways’ catering services like food quality, over charging etc., both at railway stations and in running trains. Announcing this, here today, the Minister of Railways, Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal said that this facility is available all seven days from 7 A.M. to 10 P.M. when during this time generally the food is served to the passengers. 

The Minister said that as soon as the complaint is registered, all possible actions will be taken on real time basis to address that complaint. This facility has started functioning, he added.

ONE OF THE PASSENGERS BOOKED ON A NON-TATKAL TICKET NEEDS TO PRODUCE ONE OF THE PRESCRIBED PROOFS OF IDENTITY IN ORIGINAL DURING THE JOURNEY

ONE OF THE PASSENGERS BOOKED ON A NON-TATKAL TICKET NEEDS TO PRODUCE ONE OF THE PRESCRIBED PROOFS OF IDENTITY IN ORIGINAL DURING THE JOURNEY

Carrying Prescribed Photo Identity Card in Original is Now Compulsory During Journey in Trains in Any Reserved Classes

ONE OF THE PASSENGERS BOOKED ON A NON-TATKAL TICKET NEEDS TO PRODUCE ONE OF THE PRESCRIBED PROOFS OF IDENTITY IN ORIGINAL DURING THE JOURNEY

THE PASSENGERS UNDERTAKING JOURNEY ON TATKAL TICKET HAVE TO PRODUCE THE SAME ORIGINAL PRESCRIBED PROOF OF IDENTITY AS INDICATED ON THE TICKET

PASSENGERS TRAVELLING WITHOUT AN ORIGINAL IDENTIFY PROOF WOULD BE TREATED AS WITHOUT TICKET AND CHARGED ACCORDINGLY.

WHILE PURCHASING RESERVED TICKETS THROUGH PRS COUNTERS, SHOWING ORIGINAL OR ATTACHING PHOTOCOPY OF THE IDENTITY CARD IS NOT REQUIRED EXCEPT WHILE PURCHASING TATKAL TICKETS WHERE PHOTOCOPY NEEDS TO BE ATTACHED AT THE TIME OF PURCHASE

THE MOVE AIMS TO FACILITATE THE TRAVEL OF BONAFIDE AND LEGITIMATE PASSENGERS AND TO REDUCE THE SCOPE FOR MISUSE OF RESERVED TICKETING SYSTEM BY UNSCRUPULOUS ELEMENTS/MIDDLEMAN

THE LIST OF PRESCRIBED PROOFS OF IDENTITY HAS BEEN EXPANDED TO COVER MORE VARIETY OF PHOTO IDENTITY CARDS FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF THE PASSENGERS

As a major initiative to further facilitate the travel of bonafide and legitimate passengers and to reduce the scope for misuse of reserved ticketing system by unscrupulous elements/middlemen, the Ministry of Railways has now made it compulsory to carry prescribed original proof of identity cards during train travel on all reserved classes of tickets.  While this provision was made compulsory for Air Conditioned classes w.e.f. 15th February 2012,   the provision for all remaining classes was made effective from 1st December 2012.  In a nutshell, now all categories of passengers travelling in reserved classes will have to produce original proof of prescribed identity cards during the train journey.  Those travelling without an original identify proof shall be treated as without ticket and charged accordingly.

In case of travel by a group on the same PNR, any one member in the group travelling on a single PNR needs to carry the prescribed identity proof in original which will be valid for all.  In case of Tatkal tickets, the same original proof of identity as mentioned at the time of purchase of he Tatkal tickets (which is also indicated on the ticket) needs to be carried while travelling.

Moreover, in case of purchasing Tatkal tickets from PRS counters, it is necessary to attach only the self-attested photocopy of the prescribed identity card with the requisition slip, whereas while booking Tatkal ticket though internet, the number and type of proof of identity has to be indicated.  However, at the time of purchasing non-Tatkal tickets from PRS counters, there is no need either to show original prescribed identity card or attach any self-attested photocopy of the identity card.

The Ministry of Railways has also expanded the list of prescribed proofs of identity to cover more variety of Photo Identity Cards for the convenience of the passengers.  Keeping rural travelling public in mind, the identity cards like Voter Card,  Ration Card, Below Poverty Line Card,  Cards issued by Panchayat Administration  Unique Identity Card, Aadhaar, ESI Cards, Senior Citizen Cards,  Student Identity Card, Bank Passbook with photograph etc. have been included in the list.  The complete expanded list of the prescribed proofs of identity for undertaking journeys on Tatkal ticket and other reserved classes will now be as follows:

1.    Voter Photo identity card issued by Election Commission of India.

2.    Passport.

3.    PAN Card issued by Income Tax Department.

4.    Driving Licence issued by RTO.

5.    Photo identity card having serial number issued by Central/State Government which include the following:

(i) Pension Pay Order s(PPO)
(ii) Ration Card with photographs
(iii) Senior Citizen cards
(iv) Below Poverty Line (BPL) cards
(v) ESI cards (with photograph) issued for taking treatment in ESI dispensaries.
(vi) CGHS Cards (with photograph) issued to individual family members of Central Govt. employees.

6.    Student Identity Card with photograph issued by recognized School/College for their students.

7.    Nationalized Bank Passbook with photographs.

8.    Credit Cards issued by Banks with laminated photograph.

9.    Unique Identification Card “Aadhaar”.

10.     Photo identity cards having serial number issued by Public Sector Undertakings of State/Central Government, District Administrations, Municipal bodies and Panchayat Administrations.

This new change of policy of making identity card compulsory during reserved travel is aimed at facilitating the travel of bonafide and genuine passengers and simultaneously to check the scope for travel on transferred tickets.  It is also considered that this policy provision shall also be useful from the security point of view.

Railways has given wide publicity to these instructions through Press Notes, Press Advertisements, Display Boards, Announcement though Public Addresses, etc. for the convenience of the traveling people.

It will be relevant to mention that only five per cent of the total passenger travelling daily on Indian Railway trains travel in reserved classes.  All the Mail & Express trains have non-reserved ordinary Second Class coaches along with the reserved classes coaches for those who wish to travel in non-reserved classes wherein carrying of identity card is not compulsory.