Horror stories of railway staff making <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/toilet-water-in-tea-contractor-slapped-with-penalty-of-1-lakh/articleshow/64008756.cms">tea with water from the train restrooms</a> leaves most scarred and wondering what happens in the kitchen where the actual food is cooked. Well, now you needn’t wonder any more, the railways will soon be live-streaming kitchen proceedings from its base kitchens directly to the Indian Railway Catering &amp; Tourism Corporation (<keyword id="65866" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IRCTC">IRCTC</keyword>) website. Just last <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-railways-is-using-ai-driven-surveillance-cameras-to-monitor-its-kitchens/articleshow/64081030.cms">month</a> the railways inaugurated its kitchen monitoring system wherein Artificial Intelligence-enabled high definition CCTV cameras were installed in 16 of the 200 base kitchens, and the live feed of the goings on inside the kitchens would be monitored in a hi-tech surveillance room set up at the IRCTC’s headquarters in <keyword id="66" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi">Delhi</keyword>. Now, rail and coal minister Piyush Goyal has decided to take this a step further and share this feed with everyone. Goyal told <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/now-you-can-track-whats-cooking-at-rail-kitchens/articleshow/64564610.cms">Times of India</a> that passengers will be able to watch the live stream through both IRCTC’s website and an app that the railways is developing. The AI system mentioned above basically uses pre-fed photos of typically ‘acceptable’ proceedings, or standard operating procedure (SOP), and if something out of the ordinary is picked up, it recognises and flags that. For example, if a member of the staff is not wearing the requisite headgear or if there is a rat scurrying about in the kitchen, the camera will detect the same and raise an alarm. A report generated by the system will first go to the contractor who should then take care if the issue. However, if left unaddressed, the report is then sent to IRCTC authorities.

Indian Railways is going to live stream its kitchens to the world to ensure transparency

<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/slideshows/sai/ask-disha/ask-disha-live-business-insider-india-2018/slideshow/66260507.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink"></a> <ul><li><keyword id="6355455" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-railways">Indian Railways</keyword> have plans to build a wall spanning over 3,000 kms to ensure safety of railway lines and keeping people accidentally wandering onto tracks. </li><li>The project is estimated to incur nearly ₹25 billion. </li><li>The wall will be 2.7 metres high to prevent cattle straying and dumping of waste. </li></ul>After the deadly mishap in Amritsar that killed 60 people, Indian Railways is planning to build a 3,000 kms wall that will secure the tracks and act as a safety fence for people, according to media <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/indian-railways-to-build-3000-km-wall-to-guard-tracks-keep-away-people-amritsar-train-accident-5452687/">reports</a>. The Railways has estimated the project to cost nearly ₹25 billion and is pursuing it on priority. The fence will be 2.7 metres high and will be made of concrete cement, said an Indian Express report. The height of the wall is aimed at keeping people away from railway lines for safety reasons and also prevent cattle straying onto the tracks. The height also won’t allow for dumping of waste on the railway lines. Increasing safety concerns. The Commission of Railway Safety has <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/indian-railways-to-build-3000-km-wall-to-guard-tracks-keep-away-people-amritsar-train-accident-5452687/"></a><a href="https://translate.google.co.in/translate?hl=en&amp;sl=hi&amp;u=https://www.amarujala.com/india-news/after-amritsar-mishap-indian-railways-will-build-3-000-km-wall-to-guard-tracks&amp;prev=search" data-type="tilCustomLink">reportedly</a> said that railway lines need to be walled to ensure safety for train speeds ranging to a 160 kmph. With increasing concerns over security, vulnerable areas such as the Golden Quadrilateral and its diagonals are also being planned to be walled. Earlier, different zonal railways in India had plans to fence certain problematic areas over 2,000 kms. According to reports, the project was slated to receive ₹6.5 billion from Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh,a special safety fund over the course of five years. The latest project of 3,000 kilometres will cover all the vulnerable areas. Over 49,790 people have been accidentally mowed down by trains in last three years, with a majority of accidents taking place in densely populated regions, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/indian-railways-to-build-3000-km-wall-to-guard-tracks-keep-away-people-amritsar-train-accident-5452687/">according to</a> reports. Local residents have historically objected to the construction of walls. However, the recent Amritsar incident has put authorities on alert. Over 60 people were accidentally run over by a moving train when a huge group had covered a train track in the are to catch a better view of the local Dussehra festival celebrations. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/how-a-free-travel-insurance-offer-on-the-indian-railways-website-left-data-of-200000-passengers-exposed-to-hackers-for-two-years/articleshow/66604055.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">How a free travel insurance offer on the Indian Railways website left data of 200,000 passengers exposed to hackers for two years</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indian-railways-is-all-set-to-introduce-a-special-train-for-buddhist-travellers-across-globe/articleshow/66243095.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Indian Railways is all set to introduce a special train for Buddhist travellers across globe </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/slideshows/sai/ask-disha/ask-disha-live-business-insider-india-2018/slideshow/66260507.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Ask Disha is live on IRCTC's website</a>

Indian Railways to build a 3,000 km safety fence to guard people and prevent accidents

Next time you end up booking a railway berth, you might get a discount as railways will soon be introducing discounts for vacant berths, after the preparation of charts, in all trains. 
 The births that will remain vacant after the chart preparation will be sold at 10% discount. These tickets will be available at current counters as well as through e-ticketing on IRCTC website till 30 minutes before the scheduled departure of the <keyword id="41341" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="train">train</keyword>. 
 The transporter has earlier offered similar discounts on vacant berths in <keyword id="6386499" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajdhani">Rajdhani</keyword>, <keyword id="66524" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shatabdi">Shatabdi</keyword> and Duronto trains on a trial basis from December 15.The berths available were sold out at discounts of 10% over the cost of last ticket sold prior to charting. The tickets in elite trains are being sold on the flexi-fare system. 
 
Reportedly, flexi fare is adversely affecting occupancy and several seats are left vacant. In the flexi fare system, the price of the last tickets sold turns out to be 50% costlier than the actual price.

If you book a railway berth at the last minute, you will get a 10% rebate on vacant berths, here’s why

<ul><li>The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp’s (<keyword id="65866" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IRCTC">IRCTC</keyword>) website, used to book railways tickets digitally, exposed data of 200,000 users. </li><li>The railway department was unaware of the bug for the past two years in a massive <keyword id="608402" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-breach">data breach</keyword>. </li><li>Although, the bug has been fixed but it is still not known if the information was stolen by any hackers.</li></ul> A potential <keyword id="755759" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="security-bug">security bug</keyword> in the <keyword id="6355455" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-railways">Indian Railways</keyword>’ website exposed the data of as many as 200,000 passengers who used its website to book train tickets in India, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/irctc-wakes-up-after-2-years-fixes-its-security-bug/articleshow/66581292.cms">Economic Times</a> reported. The website glitch involving a free travel insurance policy of railways could have given hackers unauthorised access to personal information of the traveler including name, age, gender and insurance nominees, according to the report. The incident began in 2016 when Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp’s (IRCTC) launched a provision of free travel insurance for people who used its website or mobile application to book train tickets. The provision permitted users to avail insurance coverage through third-party insurers, risking their their personal details in return because of the bug. Neither the Railways nor any other government organisation was aware of the vulnerability until Avinash Jain, a security researcher, identified the bug and alerted IRCTC in August this year. According to <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/irctc-wakes-up-after-2-years-fixes-its-security-bug/articleshow/66581292.cms">Economic Times</a>, the issue was acknowledged and fixed by Indian Railways soon after the researcher warned the railways about the bug. Jain <a href="https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/internet/irctc-wakes-up-after-2-years-to-fix-its-security-bug/66583861">claimed</a> that he was able to fetch data of around 1,000 passengers in just ten minutes. To be sure, it is unclear if the data risked by IRCTC has been improperly accessed or misused by any cyber attacker. The risks of digital? According to IRCTC’s <a href="http://www.irctc.com/annualReport_En.jsp">annual report</a> 2016-17, 62% of the reserved railways tickets in India are booked online. Additionally, more than 570,000 tickets are booked using the website or mobile application. Given the significant amount of passenger information IRCTC hold, the glitch would have resulted in a massive data breach. And while the rapidly-changing IT-infrastructure has eased many government operations but it has also, in some cases, resulted in higher cyber security threats. Cyber attacks have been on the rise in India and the Indian government is expecting a further increase in number of attacks in 2018, said a recent report by the <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/cyber-attacks-becoming-more-frequent-in-india/story-8Os6AtCrHzL6QCBinVQuSM.html">Hindustan Times</a>. The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) which monitors the cyber security incidents in India have reported 53,081 cases of cyber threats in India, reported<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/irctc-wakes-up-after-2-years-fixes-its-security-bug/articleshow/66581292.cms"> Economic Times</a>. According to CERT, In 2017, there were over 53,000 cyber attacks in India. Whereas, the cases reported in 2016 were around 50,000. A <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/cyber-attacks-targeting-india-continue-to-rise-heres-why-its-worrying/articleshow/66589156.cms">recent study</a> by F-secure claimed that India witnessed over 695,000 cyber attacks in just six months. The Indian government, for its part, has said it is planning to revise its cyber security policy to deal with cyber attacks and protect sensitive information.

How a free travel insurance offer on the Indian Railways website left data of 200,000 passengers exposed to hackers for two years

An essential part of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=travelling&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">travelling</a>- especially train journeys with Indian families involve indulging in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=snacks&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">snacks</a> and a host of light-eats throughout. 
 
Be it a bus, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=train+journey&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">train</a> or a flight journey- a considerable part of the experience will invariably end up being the various snacks consumed. 
 
And, why not? 
 
If you think about it, there is nothing better than munching on a plate of hot <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=train+journey&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">samosas</a> paired with a glass of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=lassi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">lassi</a> while you’re admiring the scenic view as the train takes it sweet time to reach your destination. 
 
And, now a study by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=travelkhana&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">TravelKhana</a>, the online food marketplace that has pioneered food-delivery to travelers in transit has proved just that by revealing the top eight light-eats Indians love munching on during a journey. 
 
Their data has also claimed that nearly 39% railway travelers prefer ordering light meals and snacks during any journey as compared to proper meals. 
 
These snacks are as follows- 
 
1. Rasmalai, which recorded 8% sales. 
 
 
(Image credit: MuskilNahi.com) 
 
 
2. <keyword id="404443" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="gulab-jamun">Gulab Jamun</keyword>, recording 7% sales. 
 
 
 
 
3. <keyword id="623416" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Jaljeera">Jaljeera</keyword>, with 4% sales. 
 
 
 
 
4. <keyword id="6360837" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="lassi">Lassi</keyword>, <keyword id="6757559" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Samosas">Samosas</keyword> and <keyword id="3314680" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Dal-Kachori">Dal Kachori</keyword> with 3% sales each. 
 
 
 
5. Kajubarfi and Roshogulla with 2% sales each. 
 
 
 
Guess the myth about Indians having a prominent sweet-tooth is true, after all. 
 Echoing the thought, Mr. Pushpinder Singh, CEO &amp; Co-founder, <keyword id="2736483" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="TravelKhana">TravelKhana</keyword> commented, “Although we give access to meal options from an elaborate menu from restaurants across the country, our data shows that a significant number of passengers’ bookings are primarily made for light meals and sweets. This makes it quite evident that Indians love to relish their desi snacks and sweets in the company of friends and family and reserve a special fondness for Gulab Jamuns, Rasmalais, Samosas, Kachoris and Kaju Barfi.” 
 TravelKhana, which has now integrated its services with the <keyword id="65866" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="IRCTC">IRCTC</keyword> website, makes it possible for travelers to get access to lip-smacking fare prepared by the various restaurants selected and verified by TravelKhana.com personnel. 
 
 Railway Passengers are required to simply click on the “Food on Track” tab on the IRCTC website while booking their train tickets and select the meal of their choice. This assures them of having delicious food delivered by TravelKhana right at their berth at the station which they choose during the booking process. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Eight snacks Indians love
eating while travelling

Major railways stations in India will soon be getting battery-operated cars (BoC) so that it’s easier for passengers, especially those who are disabled, ailing and elderly, to move around. The paid service will be provided by private firms on 75 stations in the first phase. 
 Other than these cars, passengers will also be allowed to book in advance wheelchairs, porters and pick-up and drop facilities using a dedicated soon to be launched mobile app. To make the bookings accessible to all, a dedicated mobile number will also be launched which passengers would call to book the services. The same could also be done for <keyword id="65866" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="IRCTC">IRCTC</keyword>'s website and helpline number 139. 
 
For those unable to book, the service would be available on first come first serve basis. 
 
<a href="http://www.irctcstationcode.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Battery-Operated-car-at-railway-station.jpg">Image source</a>

Government to soon launch battery cars at major railway stations

<keyword id="70275" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="railway-passengers">Railway passengers</keyword> can now cancel their confirmed train tickets by just dialling <keyword id="1654035" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="139">139</keyword>. 
 A person has to dial 139 and give details such as PNR number and train number of the confirmed ticket to get it cancelled. The sender will then get a one-time password (OTP) which he/she will have to give at the Passenger Reservation System ( PRS) counter to claim refund. Besides 139, one can also cancel confirmed tickets using the <keyword id="65866" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="IRCTC">IRCTC</keyword> website. 
 
The move came after <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=indian+railways&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">railways </a>made cancellation norms stricter by doubling the ticket cancellation charges and bringing the rule that passengers won't get any refund if confirmed tickets are not cancelled four hours before the train's departure. 
 
After the change in refund rules, a lot of passengers were finding it difficult to reach counters to cancel the reserved tickets within the stipulated time, and as a result, were losing money. Launching the service, railways minister <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=suresh+prabhu&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Suresh Prabhu</a> said this is an attempt to make cancellation of tickets easier for the public. 
 
He said railways has its own challenges for carrying out an expansion programme. "We have to expand the railway infrastructure for which fund is required. We have to increase the income for this and all these have to be carried out in a transparent manner. It is a challenging task," Prabhu said. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Now, cancel your confirmed train ticket by just dialing 139

(Eds: updates with resumption of passenger trains, new virus tally)New Delhi, May 10 () As India enters the last week of the 54-day coronavirus lockdown, the Railways on Sunday said 15 air-conditioned special trains will operate from May 12 in a gradual resumption of passenger services announced on the eve of of Prime Minister Narendra Modi 's video conference with chief ministers that is expected to focus on a a strategy for a phased exit from the shutdown. Modi's discussions with chief ministers of states and union territories on Monday are expected to revolve on steps for reviving the battered economy and scaling up all efforts to bring more 'red' zones with high COVID-19 case load into 'orange' or 'green' zones, as they push for stepping up economic activities in a calibrated manner. The Centre also weighed the pros and cons of further easing of restrictions for a graded exit from the twice extended lockdown due to end on May 17 but sources said the restrictions still in place are unlikely to be withdrawn in one go. The Prime Minister's Office(PMO) on Sunday said the video conference will begin at 3 PM on Monday. This will be Modi's fifth interaction with the chief ministers since the coronavirus outbreak in the country. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, meanwhile, said no COVID-19 case has been reported in 10 states and union territories in the last 24 hours and the recovery rate has increased to over 30 per cent, asserting India was "moving fast on the path of success" in the fight against the pandemic. According to health ministry data, 1,511 COVID-19 patients recovered in the last 24 hours -- the highest number of recoveries recorded in one day. Announcing the phased resumption of passenger services that was suspended from the first day of the lockdown on March 25, the Railways said in a statement that air-conditioned services will initially begin with 15 pairs of trains(30 return journeys) on Rajdhani routes and the fare would be equivalent to that of the super-fast train,. The special trains will run from New Delhi to Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi. Passengers have been asked to reached the railway stations an hour early before the train's departure. Officials said unlike 'Shramik Specials' to transport migrant labourers , in which only 54 passengers were allowed instead of the regular 72, these trains will run on full capacity, but no concession in fare is likely to be allowed. A total of 366 trains have transported nearly four lakh migrant workers since the first special train was rolled out on May 1. Booking for reservation in these trains will start at 4 pm on May 11 and will be available only on the IRCTC website (https://www.irctc.co.in/). Sources in the union government said the focus of the prime minister's meeting would be on boosting economic activities and pushing efforts to convert 'red' zones with high COVID-19 case load into 'orange' or 'green' zones. The Union Health ministry on May 1 classified 733 districts as 130 in the red zone, 284 in the orange zone and 319 in the green zone, taking into consideration incidence of cases, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance feedback. In some good news in efforts to ramp up testing, Vardhan said the National Institute of Virology(NIV) in Pune has successfully developed the first indigenous test kit that will play a critical role in surveillance of proportion of population exposed to coronavirus infection. The test kit has the advantage of testing 90 samples together in a single run of 2.5 hours, so that healthcare professionals can proceed quickly with necessary next steps on their patients' triage paths, Vardhan said. "National Institute of Virology, Pune has successfully developed the 1st indigenous anti-SARS-CoV-2 human IgG ELISA test kit for antibody detection of COVID-19," the minister said in a series of tweets. Vardhan said India carried out 86,000 tests for COVID-19 on Saturday and its testing capacity now stands at 95,000 samples per day. Till Saturday, 16,09,777 tests for COVID-19 have been conducted in India, he noted. India had started from one laboratory and now there are 472 laboratories testing for COVID-19, he said after inspecting a COVID-19 care centre in the Mandoli area in the national capital. There are 4,362 coronavirus care centres across the country where 3,46,856 patients with mild or very mild symptoms can be kept, he added. "We are moving fast on path of success in the fight against COVID-19. The doubling rate for the last three days is 12 (days). The recovery rate has crossed 30 per cent. Out of around 60,000 COVID-19 patients, about 20,000 have recovered and gone home." "Our mortality rate is still at 3.3 per cent.... In the last 24 hours, there has been no case in 10 states and Union territories. There are four states or Union territories where there has not been a single case till now," Vardhan noted. India has 36 states and Union territories. At a meeting on Sunday, state chief secretaries told Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba that while protection is required from COVID-19, economic activities also need to be stepped up in a calibrated manner. Former chief economist of World Bank Kaushik Basu said it is not easy exiting from the lockdown but if India is determined the country can do it. "We must not make the mistake of locking ourselves down in a fear psychosis. This can cause an economic setback for many years to come," he told . The coronavirus death toll in the country rose to 2,109 on Sunday and the number of cases climbed to 62,939, registering an increase of 128 deaths and 3,277 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry. The number of active COVID-19 cases stood at 41,472, while 19,357 people have recovered and one patient has migrated, the ministry said. According to a tally based on data from inputs from states, the cases jumped to 67,026 while 20,469 patients had recovered and the death toll rose to 2,135. A Maharashtra state official reported 1,278 new COVID-19 cases and 53 deaths, taking case count to 22,171 and number of fatalities to 832. The union health ministry data updated in the morning showed that the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases was in the worst affected state of Maharashtra at 20,228, followed by Gujarat at 7,796, Delhi at 6,542, Tamil Nadu at 6,535, Rajasthan at 3,708, Madhya Pradesh at 3,614 and Uttar Pradesh at 3,373. As many as 334 coronavirus 'super-spreaders' have been found in Ahmedabad so far, and it is the main reason for the order to keep shops of groceries and vegetables closed till May 15, an official said. 'Super-spreaders' are the infectious disease carriers who could transmit the pathogen to a large number of people. They could be vegetable vendors, grocery and milk shop owners, petrol pump attendants or garbage collectors, who by the nature of their job carry the risk of getting infected and infecting others. Karnataka witnessed the biggest spike in COVID-19 cases in a single day with 53 people testing positive on Sunday, taking the tally to 847 and reported one more death, increasing the number of fatalities to 31. This was the biggest spike in a single day in the state, a senior government officer told in Bengaluru. ASG NAB ASK ACB RRT UD PM PD KA BKS GMS GSN GSNGSN

Rlys to operate 15 trains from May 12; PM to interact with CMs on Monday with focus on economy revival

Good news for food lovers! Passengers on board can now order their meals from some of the popular fast-food chains in the country. After <keyword id="158137" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Domino">Domino</keyword>'s, American fast food giant Yum Foods’ chain, Kentucky Fried Chicken (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/KFC-food-samples-contain-harmful-bacteria-Govt-report/articleshow/47829313.cms">KFC</a>), has entered into an agreement with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Getting-Tatkal-tickets-on-IRCTC-would-no-longer-be-a-tough-fight-this-summer-Heres-why/articleshow/47555632.cms">IRCTC</a>) to serve consumers on <keyword id="6360847" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Trains">trains</keyword>. 
 
Currently, passengers can avail the service on 12 trains passing through New Delhi railway station and will be expanded to Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad (Kacheguda) and Bangalore (Yeshwantpur) stations over the next 10 days, reported TOI. 
 The service will initially be limited to trains, which lack pantry cars and subsequently be expanded to trains such as, the Rajdhani and Duronto. Passengers will have to visit the <keyword id="65866" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="IRCTC">IRCTC</keyword> website or call a toll free number to place their orders. "It's still early days and we will take time to scale up," Dhruv Kaul, CMO at <keyword id="6376241" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="KFC">KFC</keyword> India told TOI. "The sheer number of people that travel by train is an interesting proposition for us." 
 
The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Indian-Railways-is-getting-a-makeover-Know-how/articleshow/47673889.cms">Indian Railways</a> operates around 12,500 passenger trains every day with nearly 1.3 crore passengers. In contrast, the largest burger chain in the country, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/McDonalds-goes-healthy-Now-heres-a-first-for-the-junk-food-giant/articleshow/47158676.cms">McDonald's</a>, serves 32 lakh consumers annually. 
 
Despite the potential, the logistics of train delivery — late trains and crowded platforms — is something that fast-food chains are still working on. 
 
Domino's has started its train deliveries in February. The pizza maker has expanded its service to around 200 trains and has managed to sell only around 350 pizzas. "The operations have to be worked on. But we are used to entering new areas," said Kaul. 
 
It has also been learnt that IRCTC is in talks with other chains such as, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Pizza-Hut-Is-Holding-Job-Interviews-That-Are-Only-140-Seconds-Long/articleshow/21282634.cms">Pizza Hut</a> and <keyword id="6366667" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Subway">Subway</keyword> for similar services. 
 
(Image: Reuters)

Now get KFC meals on trains! IRCTC ties up with KFC

Wary of your waitlisted <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=IRCTC">IRCTC</a> ticket? You’re among 30-40% of the 10 lakh people who book tickets on the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=IRCTC">IRCTC</a> website daily. Yet, a whopping 57% of the seats go vacant. Few years ago two ex-<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=IBM">IBM</a> engineers felt this had to change. 
 “We researched the railways data for trends and found a pattern. There was a possibility we could predict availability”, Dinesh Kumar Kotha, Co-founder, <keyword id="2935882" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="ConfirmTkt">Confirmtkt</keyword> says. 
 
The duo created an algorithm that considers historical data on key factors like month, holidays, week/weekend, train, type of journey to predict the possibility of you landing a confirmed ticket on the train of your choice. Their new feature ‘Alternates’ rolled out in first half of August claims to increase the chances many-folds. 
 
Mind, users still need to visit <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=IRCTC">IRCTC</a>'s official website or app to complete the booking. However, judging that over 95% Indian rail travelers are middle-class and rail prices are often a third of bus travel and a fraction of airfare, there is no lack of demand for such hacks in the travel industry. 
 
“<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Cleartrip">Cleartrip</a> wanted to redirect to booking to their website. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Yatra">Yatra</a> wants to use our technology. However, we want to focus on research and development initially. Monetization can wait. ”, Kotha says. 
 
The prediction accuracy was previously 75%. It has jumped to more than 95% as of now. 
 
“We are also working on predicting multi-train/break journeys. Alternative modes of transport can also be added. There are several options”, Kotha says. 
 
When asked if he has a time-frame in mind to monetize, Kotha agrees. “We’re experimenting on the best time to monetize. Our target is a million users. Currently we have around 2.7 lakh”, he says. 
 
Confirmtkt has a <a href="http://www.confirmtkt.com/">website</a>, <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.confirmtkt.lite&amp;referrer=utm_source%3Dwebsite%26utm_medium%3Dbanner">Android</a> and <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/apps/confirmtkt/9wzdncrdcnfg">Windows</a> apps. An iPhone app is coming soon.

An app
to tell if you can get a confirmed train ticket or not!

The morning hour scramble for booking Tatkal tickets will now considerably ease as <keyword id="65866" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IRCTC">IRCTC</keyword> has upgraded its website by introducing two high-capacity servers that have doubled peak-time efficiency. 
 The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s (IRCTC) portal installed two Linux-enabled servers recently. This will be raising the booking capacity to over 14,000 tickets per minute from the existing 7,200, much to the relief of passengers jostling for tatkal reservation, which faces heavy <keyword id="37572" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="rush">rush</keyword> in its first 15 minutes since 10 am when the service opens every day. 
 The capacity augmentation has been done as an “immediate step” to cater to the summer-time demand for tatkal tickets and a forenoon flurry in their online reservation, revealed IRCTC <keyword id="147380" type="POSITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="chairman-and-managing-director">Chairman and Managing Director</keyword> Dr A K Manocha. 
 
“The positive results are already showing,” he pointed out. “The measure is vital, considering that 54% train tickets in the country are booked through IRCTC website.” The average daily sale of train tickets through the portal, which is the world’s second busiest with 3 crore registered users, is around 5.5 to 6 lakh. It has registered a record 14,800 tickets per minute. 
 
IRCTC, which is a 16-year-old ‘mini Ratna’ PSU of Indian Railways, had introduced e-ticketing in 2002 through its digital platform. The website was first upgraded in end-April last year, facilitating 1,50,000 concurrent connections (users at a time) and the ability to entertain 1,000 enquiries per second. 
 
“Even that was later found insufficient, given the summer-time rush for tatkal tickets—especially in premium trains plying between the most sought-after destinations,” said the CMD of the 1999-founded IRCTC, which is also into railway food catering and tourism promotion. 
 
“The two HP Itanium servers have now helped raise the capacity of concurrent connections to 3,00,000, while the facility for enquiries has trebled to 3,000 per minute. Logging in on the IRCTC’s website has become smoother and more efficient. ” 
 
With the addition of two new servers, IRCTC has now 17 servers while the existing 1.4 GB bandwidth has increased by 25 %. 
 
The tatkal reservations on all Indian trains total roughly to 4,00,000 tickets (around 2.5 lakh PNRs). Of these, 50,000 tickets are slotted ‘critical’, given their high demand owing to various reasons during a given season. 
 
On April 1 this year, when advance reservation period was made 120 days, IRCTC improved its national record by enabling booking of 13,45,000 tickets. 
 
(Image: Flickr)

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