Railway Platform - Food Journey

Ever thought of eating food cooked on Railway platforms?

If you are regular traveler of through trains / local trains - then you must have thought of it at least once in your life.
CAT is trying to share few such spots here; few places that CAT has visited and experienced while traveling on different routs.


CAT is really thankful to friends: Rohit, Ashish, Rajudada, Girish and Vaibhav for being part of the interesting discussion. It was actually a TPT - which let CAT think about all the railway stations that have been part of CAT's food journey.


Quick message: Next time, if you are traveling by train, mark a slot for a food-break on platforms that you like. After all, railway platforms are interesting places for food lovers.


Here is what CAT has noticed so far...
At Elphinstone Road station in mumbai, many commuters do prefer the tea-stall at the Churchgate-end. Few things not to miss there are - Vadapav, Ragada-Pav, Ragda-Samosa (with / without Pav), Masala Tea.



The Juice Vendor near the Churchgate-End of the Middle-bridge on the platform should be visited to quench the thirst of watermelon juice.

So ragda-vada/samosa with tea or juice are good options that can be tried at Elphinstone Road station.


At Bhopal Railway station - one should grab Hot Paratha with Vegetable.


If your train is reaching there at the right time - meal hours or heavy breakfast hours, you should not be missing this opportunity.


Kalyan Junction, serves variety of Dosas since relatively early morning to fulfill the demand of the commuters.

While travelling from Mumbai to Bangalore, the train halts at Dharmavaram it is famous for Dal Wada with Chilli. On the same route, people rush to taste Biryani at Raichur and Pav-Bhaji at Solapur.
After all these stations, anyone from any compartment - 2nd, A/C or First would definitely enjoy the aroma! It could actually be possible to find which station has gone by noticing the aroma that it leaves behind in our compartments.

There are a lot of commuters who enjoy Vada-Pav at Karjat and Pune station. Bhadang-Bhel-Poori, Omlette are also some of the favorites of those who visit Pune railway station frequently. Lonavala-Khandala - the hill stations near Pune are famous for "Chikkis, Fudge and Jelly". The Chikki vendors do not leave a single train untouched!!!

On Miraj - Belgaum route one may notice the rush of co-passengers to buy Idali-Vada at Ghataprabha station. The same way we can't miss the tempting aroma of Omlette-Pav and Tea at Miraj.


While travelling from Poona to Satara the train halts at Nira station. CAT recollects that during childhood, we used to enjoy the Puri-Bhaji available on Nira station.
These varieties available on various stations, take away the boredom of long journeys. There is always an element of excitement tied-up with each station because of the food that if offers.

Diva-Panvel route had a diesel multi unit shuttle service and a diesel engine shuttle / passenger service before that. Although not on the platform of Diva Junction, but I can not imagine these trains without someone selling Sukha Bhel.
Same would be the story of many vendors selling - Shursbery biscuit(Pune), Chips-Tea-ColdDrink(Nearly every train), soup and other snacks.

There are few trains that serve tasty food - trains with pantry car .... but something about this little later in a separate post.


CAT is not the only lover of this mouthwatering food-world of railway platforms.... Each one of us - equally is!

For readers, it would be wise to look at different links mentioned below:
10-stations
best-food-on-railway-station
regional-food-on-railway-stations

With the improving taste and variety we all would love to see the increasing hygiene factors on these platform food joints - hope to see this one day!

Enjoy food -

Miyaaon.