Indian Railways is planning to deploy AI-enabled CCTV cameras across pantry cars and base kitchens operating under the East Central Railway (ECR) zone, extending a surveillance model already running in fixed kitchens to the moving parts of its catering network.
The decision followed a visit by Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar to the IRCTC monitoring war room in New Delhi, where he reviewed catering operations and emphasised the need for consistent food quality and hygiene standards.
According to IRCTC public relations officer V K Bhatti, ECR currently runs 73 pantry car and train-side vending services on mail and express trains, while the number of base kitchens has grown to 62. The proposed camera network will enable round-the-clock monitoring of food preparation, packaging and supply across both settings. IRCTC has said the initiative is aimed at bringing greater transparency and accountability to railway catering services through AI-enabled technology.
The ECR rollout builds on a broader system already active nationally. More than 800 kitchens are under AI surveillance, monitored by 2,394 cameras whose feeds are linked to the central war room at IRCTC headquarters in New Delhi. Unlike conventional CCTV, the AI layer automatically detects hygiene violations including failure to wear hairnets or transparent gloves, inadequate cleaning and the presence of rodents, flies and cockroaches. The system generates around 350 alerts per day; if a violation is not addressed, the issue is escalated to management.
Extending this framework to pantry cars moves monitoring beyond stationary kitchens to include food handling and supply during train journeys , a segment of the catering chain that had previously been harder to oversee. For contractors and kitchen staff working under IRCTC licences, continuous AI-flagged compliance records are likely to become a more direct factor in how catering contracts are evaluated and renewed.
