IRCTC Expands Smart Food Safety Monitoring
Railway food hygiene
IRCTC has ramped up its AI-powered monitoring system across all railway kitchens to enhance food quality, hygiene, and passenger safety. Over 800 kitchens are now using AI, with 2,394 cameras keeping an eye on things around the clock from a central war room in New Delhi.
This tech spots nine key hygiene issues automatically. For instance, it notices if staff aren’t wearing hairnets or gloves, and even picks up tiny bugs just 7-8 millimeters big. If something’s amiss, like dirty equipment or pests, the AI throws up instant alerts. Managers then get notified and can deal with the problems right away.
If managers don’t act fast, the alert goes to the big bosses. Usually, authorities get moving within about two hours. Nearly 350 alerts pop up each day across the network; last month, that totaled 13,550 alerts.
During 2025-26, IRCTC served close to 60 crore meals. They think AI monitoring’ll make things more consistent and people’ll be held more accountable too.
This tech started out as a small pilot project in 2018, with just 16 kitchens using it at first. Now its big growth shows how Indian Railways is really leaning into tech for better food safety across the board.
