Once upon a time a star train known for its pantry, now in shambles.
Travelled from RN to MAO yesterday and the catering staff's behaviour was shocking. One of them was sleeping on a vacant berth in D2 with his tray full of samosas and a container of sauce sitting at the corner of the berth below his feet next to the aisle exposed to dirt, grime and other forms of adulteration from passing by passengers. He slept for a good 75 minutes or so while the tray kept getting contaminated. This left me stunned. The tea vendor made it a point to serve only half a cup of tea for Rs.10/- and this happened twice. Didn't question him since the...
more... tea was tasteless and I wasn't bothered anyway. The guy selling Dabeli was apparently addicted to spitting into the vestibule whenever he passed by, oblivious of the tray of dabelis that he held against his abdomen being exposed to what was being spat out of his mouth. This was absolutely disgusting!
Only saving grace was the Masala Dosa which I bought for Rs.25/-. That tasted okayish and was well covered with a piece of aluminium foil, thereby reducing the chances of contamination due to the vendors' lackluster attitude. Wanted to try out a lot of things from the menu but seeing all this made me back out.
Hope the caterers try and salvage their lost glory soon. Else this train is going to be like any other of its kind on the Indian Railways network.