The Calicut Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) has urged the Southern Railway to take immediate action on food safety and hygiene standards in trains.
In a letter addressed to R.N. Singh, General Manager of Southern Railway, on Saturday (May 17), Sirajudheen Ellathodi, a member of the Southern Railway Zonal Railway Users’ Consultative Committee (ZRCC) and the Secretary of CCCI, expressed alarming concern regarding food safety and hygiene standards, particularly in the Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram divisions.
He demanded immediate action to ensure passenger safety after stale food was seized from a Kochi catering unit supplying the Vande Bharat Express and five other trains.
He also pointed out that the catering services in these trains failed to meet the basic standards of food safety, threatening the health and safety of passengers as well as the reputation of Indian Railways.
Mr. Ellathodi also came up with five important measures to ensure the safety of passengers, highlighting their importance to “uphold the health and trust of millions of passengers who rely on Indian Railways for safe travel.” Apart from this, a set of immediate actions, including a detailed probe into all existing catering services, specifically in the Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram divisions, was suggested.
Other suggestions include blacklisting agencies violating safety standards and barring them from future railway contracts; deployment of additional food safety officers across major stations and onboard trains; regular and surprise inspections on trains with passenger feedback mechanisms; and the imposition of stricter penalties for violations of food safety.
Published – May 17, 2025 07:56 pm IST
