Mumbai, January 14: Another incident of substandard food being served on-board long-distance trains has surfaced from Maharashtra on Tuesday. A passenger travelling in Chiplun-bound Janshatabdi Express on January 11 complained that the bread cutlets served to her were stale and had fungus on them. According to a report by Hindustan Times, the passenger registered a complaint on the Rail Madad app of the Indian Railways. The report adds that after spotting the fungus, the passenger reported the incident to the vendor, following which her money was refunded.

After the passenger, identified as a Thane resident Madhumita Bal, filed a complaint, the Indian Rail Catering Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) said it has taken actions against the contractor who served the food and the staff on board the train. She said she ordered the bread cutlet and on opening the meal box, she saw fungus on the bread and immediately pointed it out to the vendor. “I got a refund but I was not happy with the quality of other snack items either. So I raised a complaint with the Railways,” said Bal.

Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer of Central Railway was quoted in the report saying that a fine of Rs 1 lakh has been imposed on the contractor and a notice has been served. The report adds saying that IRCTC said that it will soon launch a drive to inspect the quality of food served on all outstation trains to avoid such incidences in.

In another similar incident, several passengers of Tejas Express had complained of stale food being served for dinner last week. Passengers, who were travelling between Karmali in Goa and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in Mumbai, claimed that they were served stale pulav and roti during their journey. Some of them alleged that they vomited after having the meal.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 14, 2020 01:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).