Onboard Rail Catering Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The onboard rail catering market is expected to exhibit a growth rate of more than 5% during the forecast period (2020-2025).

Key Highlights

• The improvement in service quality such as food, on time arrivals, availability, comfort, etc. is encouraging many passengers every year to take up the option of railway transport instead of road transport. The global rail passenger traffic increased from 2882.8 billion passenger kilometers in 2017 to 2949.39 billion passenger kilometers in 2018.
• The rail catering services across the globe are also preparing seasonal menus to ensure the availability of fresh and hygienic food to passengers throughout the year. Deutsche Bahn started a campaign between April 2017 and 2018 where signature dishes of food bloggers were introduced on the onboard menu. Eurostar and Great Western Railways have also collaborated with chefs like Raymond Blanc and Mitch Tonks to design the onboard menu for passengers.
• With the increasing penetration of internet and smartphones in emerging economies such as India, Thailand etc., people are now enjoying hassle free online food ordering during the rail commuting. Although in geographies such as Asia Pacific, the online food ordering is in an initial stage (Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation receives 20,000 online food delivery requests everyday), it is expected to exhibit a high growth rate in future.

Key Market Trends

Growth in the number of passengers using rail catering services

Owing to the introduction of high-speed railways, metros and subway systems in many countries across the globe, many people are switching to rail transportation and this factor is leading to the growth of rail catering services market. Due to introduction of metros, static catering service market is on the rise. Many startups in emerging economies are taking advantage of the large data generated by the railway systems and innovations can be seen in spaces such as customer service management, payments, etc.

In 2019, Indian online payment platform Paytm saw the booking of 50,000 rail tickets daily. Catering companies are using information technology for robust feedback mechanism to improve the selection of raw materials, improvement of food quality. Use of RFID scanners is boosting the effectiveness of quality assessment programs by performing end to end tracking of meal from raw material form to consumption stage. This will ensure the availability of fresh quantity food in sufficient quantity.

People are also being provided with the option to choose from a variety of menus present onboard. Amtrak provides nearly 20 menus under traditional dining, flexible dining, Café and Acela dining categories.

Rail Catering services around the globe have started using latest technologies to ensure the best quality of food to its customers. After the reports of Indian Railways serving sub and below standard food “unfit for human consumption”, IRCTC have made major changes in policy such as separating food preparation and distribution operations and in July 2018, Indian Railways started the live streaming of its kitchens to its customers to regain their trust. Indian Railways is also using artificial intelligence to detect the presence of rodents, insects and rule violation by catering service staff.

Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market

Asia-Pacific dominates the rail infrastructure market. The region is expected to witness the fastest growth rate during the forecast period. In the Asia-Pacific region, India is one of the largest and fastest growing market for railway infrastructure and service after China. India is expected to witness the fastest growth during the forecast period.

India is making investments in catering service and improving its rail transportation system. Owing to the growth in population, increased intercity commuting and trade, upcoming metro projects (13 operational, 6 under construction, 7 in planning stage and 8 in proposed stage) and extension of existing lines, the Indian rolling stock market is witnessing a steady growth.

As of 2019, India has 716 km of operational metro lines. Indian Government is also considering a bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad (Mumbai Ahmedabad High Speed Rail Corridor). The government’s Make in India initiative laid special emphasis on promoting development activities within the country. This, in turn, is expected to drive onboard rail catering market in India.

Competitive Landscape

The Onboard Rail Catering Market is a fragmented one with various national operators being the major players. The market is dominated by players such as Newrest, Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC), Deutsche Bahn, etc.

In April 2019, Newrest Wagons-Lits in Austria reported a rise of 76% in per passenger turnover, owing the success to MyPOS sales tool through which all employees can make sale onboard.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support