Food in Train Services from TravelKhana.Com

TravelKhana provides a platform of food delivery in train for India wide rail passengers. TravelKhana connects passengers of Indian Railways to several restaurants situated near the Indian rail network.

It provides a variety of choice to travellers in terms of cuisines and different prices. The automated platform of TravelKhana tracks trains across India in real time. This is to make sure that passengers get meals of their choice fresh and piping hot, in time.

Vendors and restaurants get additional business through this system. Also, it completes an entire circle from point of ordering to delivery and to customer feedback.

TravelKhana operates through call centre interface - 8800313131, web interface – www.travelkhana.com, and mobile app interface – www.play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.travelkhana. You can save more on your food order through web interface or via mobile app.

TravelKhana.com was founded by Pushpinder Singh, a technocrat. It was launched in Delhi with a capital of Rs 50 lakh, invested by founders and promoters. The idea was incubated in CDAC, NOIDA.

In the period – November to December 2011, the company did some regional testing and launched a fully fledged ordering platform only from January 2012. Today, the company operates on a margin of 10-20% of amount ordered, but this is likely to be enhanced to 15-25% as volumes grow and there is more business to vendors.

Logistics of food delivery is the responsibility of vendors. But TravelKhana tracks trains and ensures that meals are delivered efficiently and on time. TravelKhana started operations at 5 stations: Kota, Ajmer, Jaipur, Gwalior and Bhopal. Passengers passing through these stations could order meals of their choice. TravelKhana is currently serving 6000 trains across 500 cities. Indian Railways see 6 billion passengers travelling by the network on an annual basis. Premium travellers account for 10% of this market, which is their directly targeted market. TravelKhana has tied up with over 200 restaurants near the Indian rail network. The rail budgets of the government have announced that such services for passengers will be promoted India wide.

Pushpinder Singh, the Founder and CEO of TravelKhana, has a B-tech degree from BHU and masters in computer science from BITS Pilani. He has over 15 years experience in the software industry. The founders of TravelKhana.com have a passion for travel. They realized that there are very less options of food for tourists and travellers. This is especially true for passengers of Indian Railways and there is a big gap between demand and supply. Being a frequent train traveller, Pushpinder Singh understood this anomaly and the idea for TravelKhana.com was born. The founders invested around Rs 20 lakh in addition to revenues accrued from services. Promoters committed an additional Rs 30 lakh to the venture.

While starting up, the company faced many obstacles like training vendors, logistics and operation management and opposition from existing and established players. TravelKhana’s aim is to let travellers enjoy their train journey with choice of food in train to them fresh and hot.