Indian Railways has launched a pilot project called Yatri Seva Anubandh (YSA) to improve passenger services on six pairs of Vande Bharat Express trains on the Southern Railway. The program aims to provide passengers with a world-class travel experience by offering them various value-added services.

Passengers will be provided assistance from the Railways at the departure and destination stations, such as booking a taxi, driving a wheelchair and a buggy. They also have access to travel essentials and accessories on board.

Passengers will enjoy high-quality content on the onboard infotainment system, which will comply with laws regarding data protection, broadcasting and intellectual property rights.

Passengers can also choose from dishes from an exclusive food menu, prepared and sourced from ISO-certified base kitchens. The railways aims to provide quality food to its passengers on board Vande Bharat trains. Therefore, they have certain guidelines for contractors who prepare and serve food. The following applies to contractors:

First of all: enough people with training in food and cleaning. The Railways will periodically check your payments and documentation. Secondly, a big and clean kitchen in Chennai that can prepare many meals every day. Contractors must demonstrate that they have already provided many meals.

The Railways will appoint a service provider with a proven track record in catering and housekeeping to implement YSA. Each coach has a trained housekeeper who ensures cleanliness.

Passengers can request prepaid meals at the time of booking their ticket or through the Yatri Seva app, or opt for a la carte services on board. Beef and pork are not used in any food products. The contractor will have a qualified person on each train to supervise the food and beverage facilities.

Vande Bharat trains operate on the following Southern Railway routes: Chennai-Mysore, Chennai-Tirunelveli, Chennai-Coimbatore, Thiruvananthapuram-Kasargod and Chennai-Vijayawada. The sixth route is not yet known.