‘Cockroach’ in Vande Bharat’s food, Railways promises strict action

A social media user shared an upsetting experience he had with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) during his journey from Bhopal to Agra on the Vande Bharat Express.

Vidit Varshney, an X (formerly Twitter) user, said that his uncle and aunt were served a meal on the Vande Bharat Express where they found a ‘cockroach’.

“On 18-06-24, my uncle and aunt were travelling from Bhopal to Agra in Vande Bharat. They got ‘COCKROACH’ in their food from @IRCTCofficial. Please take strict action against the vendor and make sure this would not happen again @RailMinIndia @ AshwiniVaishnaw @RailwaySeva,” Vidit said in his X post.

The post, which garnered over 146.9K views, drew wide comments following which the IRCTC issued an apology. They said that a “suitable penalty” has been imposed on the concerned service provider.

“Sir, we apologise for the travel experience you had. The matter has been viewed seriously and suitable penalty has been imposed on concerned service provider. We have also intensified the production and logistics monitoring,” the IRCTC wrote in response.

The official X account for supporting Railway passengers, Railway Seva, also responded to Vidit’s post, asking him to message them his mobile and PNR number so they could take immediate action.

"We regret the experience you had. Please share your PNR number and mobile no. preferably via DM to enable us to take immediate action," the comment read.

Vidit's uncle and aunt's experience has again raised concerns about the safety standards of food provided on the railways.

Earlier in February, a passenger reported a distressing incident where he was "traumatised" by finding a "dead cockroach" in his meal on the Rewa Vande Bharat Express.

In January, another Vande Bharat Express passenger from New Delhi to Varanasi reported that he and other passengers were served stale food during the trip.