Local cuisine to be available in more trains, says Rly minister Vaishnaw

New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said more trains will have local cuisines depending on the region they are passing through and that an important experiment in this regard has been started under the Southern Railways.

The minister’s response was to queries from DMK member Sumathy Thamizhachi Thangapandian, who requested that South Indian cuisine should also be available on Vande Bharat trains running in Tamil Nadu.

Thangapandianan also mentioned that pantry workers are predominantly speaking Hindi which is making it difficult for the passengers to communicate about their needs.

During the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw said the Railways has done an important experiment in Southern Railway to make sure that local cuisine is served to the passengers.

“More and more trains will be getting local cuisine. That programme will be for the entire country, whichever train is passing through one particular region, Railways is now trying to get the delightful experience of that cuisine for the passengers whether it is in eastern, western, north or south side.... That is a continuous improvement process we are taking up,” the minister said.

‘Rail accidents came down to 81 in FY25’

Meanwhile responding to another query, Vaishnaw asserted that the Railway safety has improved with the number of rail accidents coming down significantly to 81 in the last financial year from the 400 earlier.

During the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, he also said that continuous efforts are being made, including by way of technological and procedural changes and training methods, to further bring down the rail accidents in the country.

Vaishnaw said there has been a very significant improvement in railway safety.

“During Lalu ji time, there were around 700 accidents per year, during Mamata Ji’s time, there were around 400 accidents, during Kharge ji’s time, there were around 385 accidents...In the just closed financial year (2024-25), the number has reduced from 400 to 81, there has been a very significant improvement,” he said.

Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mamata Banerjee and Mallikarjun Kharge had served as Railways ministers.

To a query about instances of delay in filing of FIRs for crimes related to railways, the minister said the GRP (Government Railway Police) of each state and RPF (Railway Protection Force) continuously have discussions and implementation of the system for zero FIRs will help address

the issues.