IRCTC to launch 1st pod hotel at Mumbai Central station

The catering and e-ticketing arm of Indian Railways, Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is all set to open the first of its type Pod Hotel at Mumbai Central Railway Station.

The passenger of the Indian Railway will get this amazing affordable lodging facility by December 2020. IRCTC is planning to turn the existing two non-air-conditioned waiting rooms into extremely small and ultra-modern pod hotel or capsules.

The IRCTC pods will provide overnight accommodation to the passengers at Mumbai Central Railway Station. An IRCTC official confirms that the capsules pods will is expected to be cheaper than the existing retiring rooms.

Recently IRCTC has issue tenders for constructing as many as 30 pods at the Mumbai Central railway station recently. According to the official, the tendering process for the construction of pods has commenced and IRCTC is aiming to launch the pod hotel service by the month of December 2020.

The construction of pods will be completed within six months after the tender is finalized, the official said. The specifications and designs of the upcoming post hotel of IRCTC will be similar to the first pod hotel which is privately-run and opened in Andheri in the year 2017.

The capsules pods of IRCTC will provide up to 12 hrs of accommodation to its passengers. The pods will categories into two types Classic Pods and Suite Pods.

The Classic pods will cater to one passenger and will be equipped with lockers, baggage space and charging sockets. While the suite pods will consist of a large bed for two passengers, WiFi service, personal lockers and all facilities of Classic pods.

IRCTC started the planning of this project in 2018. It is also supposed that the IRCTC pod hotel will also boast a lounge area, changing areas, washrooms as well as a cafeteria at Mumbai Central railway station.