MUMBAI, March 11 -- Fresh meals served on some premium long-distance trains were hit on Wednesday, even as fried snacks at suburban stations will likely disappear from railway stalls. The Indian Railways have begun to feel the impact of the LPG squeeze due to the war in West Asia. Sources in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) said its cloud kitchen at Sewri, which prepares meals for 4,500 passengers on the Central and Western railways, daily, was unable to cook as they ran out of LPG. The Sewri cloud kitchen supplies meals to premium trains such as Vande Bharat Express, Rajdhani Express, Duronto Express, Shatabdi, and Tejas Express. Railway officials said that as back-up, they stocked ready-to-eat food items in the pantry car of the Rajdhani Express departing from CSMT. In Mumbai, suburban commuters too will likely be impacted as their favourite snacks, such as vadas, samosas and bread pakoda, will not be served as cooking fried food requires large quantities of LPG. Some freshly made items too, such as idli and poha, may also disappear from railway food stalls. "There is LPG stock for around a week. Large electric stoves and induction cookers for commercial use are expensive, which makes their purchase unviable," said a food stall owner, who owns stalls at multiple stations on both the Western and Central railways. There are more than 460 food stalls in the Mumbai division of the Western Railway, of which 264 are on the Churchgate-Dahanu suburban stretch. The Central Railway has 194 food stalls, of which 152 are on the CSMT-Karjat/Kasara/Panvel corridors on its suburban network. Amid the looming crisis, the IRCTC has sent an advisory to catering licence owners on both railways, directing them to ensure uninterrupted food services to passengers. They have been told to switch to alternative cooking modes viz. microwaves and induction, to offset any potential shortage in LPG supplies, states the letter. As a result, small, electric induction stoves are appearing at some food stalls, to heat pre-prepared food that cannot be served cold. There are also concerns over possible curtailment in catering services in long-distance trains. IRCTC sources said that the situation is under control for now but is fluid. Chairperson & CEO of the Railway Board, Satish Kumar, has also written to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas, concerning the LPG required to run essential services relating to train operations, for instance, in crew running rooms. The Railway Board has requested uninterrupted supply of 8,000-odd LPG cylinders at 340 stations across various railway divisions of the Indian Railways....