Foodpanda ties up with IRCTC

Foodpanda will deliver pre-ordered meals to passengers through its own delivery fleet.

The online food ordering platform Foodpanda has tied up with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering, tourism and online ticketing operations of the Indian Railways. The association will enable consumers to order meals of their choice through Foodpanda's aggregator model, and offer them a variety of cuisine options. Foodpanda will deploy its own delivery fleet to fulfil all deliveries.

The pilot of this proposed association will be launched at the New Delhi railway station, and after a successful rollout in the capital, the service will be extended to other cities such as Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai in due course. Customers will have the choice to order meals at least two hours in advance of their travel. The delivery will be aligned with the train arrival time at the station and consumers can pay online in advance or pay cash on the spot.

Speaking about the association, Foodpanda CEO Saurabh Kochhar, says, "Consumers had limited food options to choose from while travelling with the Indian Railways, but the newly launched e-catering service by IRCTC (approved by the Ministry of Railways) is set to change the way Indians eat while travelling. We are excited to start with New Delhi railway station by December, and look forward to extend this offering to other stations."

Robin Kalita, director, Catering Services, IRCTC, adds, "Food forms a very important part of the travel experience and IRCTC takes immense care to offer healthy and hygienic food to travellers. Going forward, we want to offer a wider choice to our consumers and are thankful to Foodpanda to partner with us."

Foodpanda claims to have menus from over 12,000 restaurants, across 200 cities in India currently. It operates along with its partner brands Tastykhana.in and JustEat.in.