Next time when you opt to travel by train, do not be concerned about getting food on time during the journey. A start-up company is here to help you in getting food at respective stations by making an online order.

Redefining the traditional food services available on trains, the Kochi-based 11th Hour Innovations Pvt Ltd has launched YatraChef, a facility that helps the passengers of Indian Railways to order food of their choice while on the move.

The company has been set up by three young entrepreneurs Arun Rajan, Rameez Ashraf and Suchithra Sumadevi.

Multilingual call centre, chat support

Passengers can order food through a Web site or with the help of the company’s multilingual call centre and chat support.

The eatables will be delivered at the respective passenger seats during the journey through a network of clients, says Arun Rajan, CEO, 11th Hour Innovations.

Revenue-sharing model

Rajan, who did his Masters in Logistics and Operations from the University of Sydney, said that the business is a revenue-sharing model by making tie up arrangements with restaurants, food plazas, fast food chains and caterers within 2 km radius of the railway stations. This is to ensure an unhindered and speedy delivery of food to passengers.

Completely automated process

The ordering process is completely automated considering the convenience of passengers.

Passengers can visit the Web site  www.yatrachef.com  and enter their journey details/PNR in the required field. The system will automatically generate their travel route and help deliver the packets in their seats.

All the passengers have to do is, to choose the station, check the menu, place the order and wait for the food at the select stations. Manual assistance would also be given to passengers through the company’s multilingual call centre and chat support.

The system also tracks the train in real time, which help the company to precisely coordinate the deliveries done by the client restaurants thereby eliminating the error rate in the delivery system, he said.

Payment mode

According to Rameez Ashraf, the customer has to pay the bill amount at the time of delivery without any extra payment. The price list will be available on the Web site. There are also plans to launch online payment shortly.

He pointed out that the pilot run, which started last month, had received tremendous response by serving more than 100 orders.

However, the need of the hour is to create greater awareness about the service through social media to boost the business as well as inclusion of more hotels and high-end restaurants in the network.

There are also plans to make available three hotels per station for the customers. The service has been launched on a pan-India basis and at present, it is available in more than 100 stations, which would be doubled within the next six months, he added. 

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