New system to provide hygienic hot beverages in Waltair
Visakhapatnam: In a step towards enhancing passenger comfort, hygiene and service quality, Divisional Railway Manager of Waltair Division Lalit Bohra launched a new tea and coffee vending system.
The new facility aims to provide more hygienic hot beverages to the passengers during their journey.
Unlike the earlier system of holding cans of hot refreshments that often raise concern over hygiene maintenance, vendors turn up in insulated thermos-equipped wearable gadgets with disposable cups, offering hot beverages.
Speaking on the occasion, Divisional Railway Manager of Waltair Division Lalit Bohra stated that this initiative is being introduced as a pilot project on the AP Express on the occasion of Sankranti festival.
The new system is highly hygienic as the equipment cannot be placed on the floor, seats or other unhygienic surfaces which was common in earlier practices. Also, the insulated container helps in maintaining higher temperature for longer duration, preserving the taste and quality of tea, coffee, soup, milk and noodles served onboard. The gadget also includes a dedicated pocket for the safe disposal of used sachets and waste generated during vending, making the process cleaner and more environment-friendly. A QR code has been integrated to enable digital payments and a hassle-free experience. Under the pilot project, each insulated can has a capacity of 5-litre that can serve approximately 35 passengers at a time.
The DRM further informed that based on the passenger feedback, further improvements will be incorporated before extending the system to other trains.
The DRM commended the commercial department and IRCTC under the guidance of senior divisional commercial manager K Pavan Kumar for conceptualising such innovative initiative.
