Cockroach found in Vande Bharat meal once again, IRCTC responds

NEW DELHI: A couple travelling on Vande Bharat train found a cockroach in their meal on June 18 while travelling from Bhopal to Agra.

Their nephew made the complaint on social media demanding action from the railways against the vendor. "On 18-06-24 my Uncle and Aunt were travelling from Bhopal to Agra in Vande Bharat. They got "COCKROACH" in their food from IRCTC. Please take strict action against the vendor and make sure this would not happen again," posted X user Vidit Varshney.

IRCTC responded to the issue on Thursday, saying that they imposed a fine and taken strict action. "Sir, We apologize for the travel experience you had.The matter has been viewed seriously and suitable penalty has been imposed on concerned service provider. We have also intensified the production and logistics monitoring," replied IRCTC.

Several X users responded to the complainant. "This is serious problem as the most premium Train of India Vande Bharat is having these issues . Seriously disappointed," replied one user. Few others responded with sarcasm referring to it a source of "protein".

This is not the first incident of cockroach being found in Vande Bharat meal. In February, a passenger, Dr Shubhendu Keshari was shocked to find a dead cockroach in the food served by IRCTC while travelling from Kamlapati to Jabalpur Junction.

In July last year, the railways fined a food vendor Rs 25,000 after a passenger on the Bhopal-Delhi Vande Bharat Express found a cockroach in the meal.