'Very dirty food quality': Man shares video of food served on Vande Bharat Express; Railway Seva responds

Since their advent, Vande Bharat Express trains have emerged as a shining example of the Centre's much-touted ‘Make in India’ initiative. But it's one thing to launch a service, but the main challenge is to maintain the quality of the service. Recently, an X user, Akash Keshari, posted videos showing 'smelly' and 'dirty food' served on a Vande Bharat Express train.

The train was plying on the Varanasi-New Delhi route, and the passengers were left aghast with the quality of the food they were served. Akash Keshari, who posted the video, claimed that the food left the passengers disappointed.

"@indianrailway__, @AshwiniVaishnaw, @VandeBharatExp Hi sir, I am on a journey with 22416 from NDLS to BSB. The food that was served is smelling and very dirty food quality. Kindly refund me all the money. These vendors are spoiling the brand name of Vande Bharat Express," the caption read on the shared video.




In one of the videos, it could be seen that other passengers were also asking the railways staff to take away the food that was being served. In another video, a passenger could be heard saying that the sabzi that was served was smelling and the dal was spoiled.

Since being shared on X, the post has garnered numerous reactions, comments, and more than 1,000 views.

In reply to the post, Railway Seva wrote in the comments section, "Your complaint has been registered on RailMadad and complaint no. has been sent through SMS on your mobile no. You may track your complaint via this link https://railmadad.indianrailways.gov.in/madad/final/home.jsp… - IRCTC Official."

Meanwhile, the official account of Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) recently wrote in the comments section.

"Sir, our sincere apologies for the unsatisfactory experience you had. The matter is viewed seriously. A suitable penalty has been imposed on the service provider. Further the service provider staff responsible have been disengaged and the licensee has been suitably instructed. The monitoring of the on-board services has been further strengthened."



Here's how some people reacted to the development on X:

An user wrote, "Vande Bharat train is really a sham. Just an updated model of metro trains with washroom. I am a frequent traveler with Indian Railway since I was 14 yrs old. The Best service you get is in Rajdhani and Shatabdi express. It's a loot. And speed is a big lie."

A second posted, "These vendors must be punished heavily and fired. As rightly said, these bad and unscrupulous vendors are really spoiling our much-loved Vande Bharath brand name. Fire them."

A third user said, "Same is the condition on Rajdhani also. For that matter, if you are standing at the platform, and if any mail express train happens to pass by it, the stink left by it on the platform is unbearable. Trains are dirty, no cleaning takes place, and we give lectures on cleanliness."

"Kindly see this for proper investigation and action, @IRCTCofficial," posted the fourth.