The Indian Railways recently opened a food court consisting six outlets at New Delhi railway station on Platform 1. The court will be open through the day and will cater to over 3.5 lakh passengers. There is a China-Thai zone that offers Thai and Chinese food varieties; South Indian cuisine; Punjabi delights; an Amul ice-cream parlour; and a street food corner.
An in-house railways unit will also have an outlet to sell packaged food and beverages. Railway officials said three outlets at the food court have started functioning, and the remaining will start soon, according to a report by Priyanka Sharma in The Indian Express.
To provide authentic varieties of the famous Old Delhi food, authorities have invited bids from the vendors of the Parathewali Gali. The air-conditioned food court is spread on an area of around 700 sq metres, and can accommodate nearly 300 people at a time. “The restaurant was constructed by modifying the space available on Platform 1 of the railway station. Civil and electrical changes were carried out at the station to build a food court,” A K Sachan, Divisional Railway Manager, New Delhi, said.
The food court will operate on a revenue-sharing model between the Railways and private food vendors. The cafe will have a central billing system, controlled by the Railways. “The eating outlets will not accept cash directly. This way the Railways will know the exact revenue earned from the purchase made. The revenue will be shared with the food vendors according to the contractual agreement. In the old system, cases were witnessed where the vendors often show modest sales figure to retain higher revenue,” a Railways official said.