Station running rooms, dorms to get swankier under IRCTC

Passengers used to rundown dormitories and waiting rooms at railway stations might be in for a better experience. The railway ministry has decided to hand over the management and operation of running rooms and dormitories to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking of the railways.

The mandate of the IRCTC would be to refurbish these rooms to ensure higher levels of comfort for the passengers, said railway ministry officials. "IRCTC intends to upgrade the retiring rooms to top-class hospitality offerings with well-furnished air conditioned rooms, quality fittings, communication systems, other amenities and professional services. The upgraded services will also be integrated with local sightseeing and tours and travel services that the IRCTC has been successfully managing," said IRCTC officials. Officials said private sector firms would also be roped in to renovate and operate the running rooms. Revenues will shared between the IRCTC and the railways.

"The IRCTC will take charge of the retiring rooms and dormitories at the stations in a phased manner, renovate and refurbish them as necessary and make them available to passengers. IRCTC will be responsible for the operation, maintenance and marketing of these facilities," the company said in a statement.

The statement added that the railway ministry had issued policy guidelines to all its zonal divisions to put the process into action. "IRCTC will prepare a phase-wise road map for the takeover, following which draft agreements will be signed and the tendering process initiated," said railway officials.

The retiring rooms at Habibganj, Anand Vihar Terminal, Bijwasan, Gandhinagar and Surat will be excluded from this plan since they are already being redeveloped by the India Railway Station Development Corporation (IRSDC).