Indian Railways to install AI-powered cameras in kitchens and pantry cars

Indian Railways is deploying artificial intelligence to monitor how its passenger meals are prepared, launching a network of AI-powered CCTV cameras inside its train pantry cars and base kitchens. The technology is designed to watch kitchen staff in real time, flagging hygiene slips and dirty workstations before the food ever reaches a passenger's tray.

The move represents a significant shift in how the state-owned transport giant manages its massive catering footprint. Rather than relying on sporadic manual inspections, the railways will use automated software to oversee the entire assembly line of train food, from raw ingredients to sealed packages.

Real-time hygiene alerts

Traditional CCTV cameras require human eyes to watch screens or sift through hours of recorded footage after something goes wrong. The new AI-enabled systems are designed to do the heavy lifting themselves. By scanning the kitchen environments automatically, the software can spot irregularities, such as staff not following hygiene protocols or dirt accumulating in food preparation areas.

When the system detects a pre-set issue, it immediately sends an alert to a central monitoring team. This allows railway managers to intervene on the spot, rather than discovering a hygiene failure after a passenger complains about their meal.

Network-wide rollout

The initiative is starting with a focus on key transit corridors. V K Bhatti, a public relations officer for the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), said the surveillance network will cover 73 pantry cars and train-side vending services operating on mail and express trains in the East Central Railway zone.

At the same time, the technology is being deployed across the railway’s expanding network of base kitchens, which now numbers 62. These centralised hubs are where the bulk of the meals served on long-distance trains are prepared before being loaded onboard.

Centralised oversight

The push for automated monitoring comes after Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar visited the IRCTC’s main war room in New Delhi to review catering services. During the inspection, officials emphasised the need for a more robust, technology-driven surveillance system to rebuild trust in onboard catering.

By tracking the entire process from raw food preparation to packaging and eventual distribution, Indian Railways hopes to eliminate recurring complaints about food quality and cleanliness. The company has not yet said whether or when the AI-monitoring system will expand to other regional railway divisions beyond the East Central Railway.