Bhubaneswar: East Coast Railway (ECoR) today made the catering services in its Puri-Howrah-Puri Shatabdi Express and Bhubaneswar-New Delhi-Bhubaneswar Duronto Express optional.
Passengers can now opt out of the catering facility offered by IRCTC while booking their tickets which will reduce the cost of their tickets. However, passengers can’t change their option during the journey once they opt out.
Passengers will now be required to mandatorily exercise either of the options at the time of the booking of ticket so as to enable them to be aware of this scheme. Accordingly, catering service will be excluded or included after the mandatory option is exercised by the passengers.
It is worth mentioning that no partial catering service will be provided to passengers under this scheme, thus the option shall include/exclude complete catering service between pairs of stations.
This scheme has been implemented on a trial basis for six months, effective from August 1, and subjected to mid-term review after three months.
Meanwhile, for those who have booked tickets by these trains prior to August 1, catering service will be a part of the ticket fare.