NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Railways’s Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), dedicated to enhancing catering services and promoting rail-based domestic and inbound tourism, has recently launched its e-Pantry service on Mail and Express trains.
Sharing details with this newspaper here on Monday, an IRCTC official said, "The recently introduced e-Pantry meal booking facility in Mail and Express trains with pantry cars is receiving overwhelming response from the passengers. In the mail and express trains, the meals are not included in the ticket fare and the meals are to be purchased during the travel. e-Pantry is a digitally enabled solution to pre-book meals on select Mail/Express trains with pantry cars."
The IRCTC official further stated that the service was initially piloted on the Vivek Express—India’s longest-distance train—and is now available on 25 Mail and Express trains. "Since its phase wise introduction in April 2025, the response to the service has been very encouraging. More than 65000 meals have been booked through IRCTC e-pantry service. The breakfast and dinner meal registered booking of more than 17000 meals each and similarly morning and evening tea saw booking of more than 8000 orders each."
He further added that the lunch service has also received more than 15,000 orders during this period. "The month of December in 2025 registered the highest meal booked as 16500 orders with Train no. 12649-50/12629-30 (YPR Sampark Kranti Express) accounting for approximately. 8300 orders",he added.
"Integrated into the IRCTC ticket booking platform ([www.irctc.co.in](http://www.irctc.co.in)), the facility allows passengers with confirmed, RAC, or partially confirmed tickets to pre-order standard meals and Rail Neer, which are delivered directly to their seats by pantry car staff",he said.
Outlining the procedure for placing orders through e-Pantry, he explained that passengers can select the e-Pantry meal option during the booking process on the IRCTC website ([www.irctc.co.in](http://www.irctc.co.in)), either from the confirmation page or under the my transaction section in the booked food history section.
"After booking, passengers receive a confirmation message and a Meal Verification Code (MVC) via SMS or email. On the day of travel, passengers share the MVC with the vendor, who delivers the pre-ordered meal directly to their seat", he added.
With the introduction of this service, passengers can conveniently pre-book breakfast, standard meal lunch and dinner, or Rail Neer online, ensuring meal delivery during their journey. He said that payments are made online via digital methods, eliminating the need for cash transactions during travel.
As part of the e-Pantry service, a Meal Verification Code (MVC) is used to confirm that meals are delivered to the correct passenger. All meal orders are managed through digital dashboards, ensuring greater transparency, accountability, and compliance with tax regulations.
Notably, if a meal is not delivered as per the booking, passengers are entitled to a refund. Cancellation and refund details are communicated via email or SMS.
The IRCTC official told this newspaper that IRCTC continues to redefine the travel experience of its valued passengers through such innovative meal booking services by leveraging technology, thereby contributing to the Digital India Mission.