IRCTC Pod Hotel: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the Indian Railways will soon open India’s first ever Pod Hotel at the Mumbai Central Station which will offer affordable lodging for the passengers. It is said that the 2 non-air-conditioned waiting rooms located at the 1st floor of the Mumbai Central Railway Station may be made into the capsule hotel. The Pod hotel will be made by building multiple small, but, modern capsules where a passenger will be able to spend the night.
It can be expected that these pods/capsules will be much more pocket friendly than the retiring rooms which passengers currently use according to a IRCTC official. The subsidiary of the Indian Railways which handles tourism, online ticketing, and catering will build 30 capsules at the Mumbai Central Station, and tenders have been released for the same.
According to the IRCTC official, the tender process has already begun for the construction of these capsules and IRCTC wants to launch the pod hotel by the end of this year (December 2020).
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The official said, once the tender is finalised, the construction of pods shall not take longer than 6 months, and the specification of the pods will be based on the other pod hotels that are running in India. India’s first pod hotel was opened in 2017 in Andheri, Mumbai, and is owned by a private entity.
According to the reports, the pods will be available to rent for 12 hours at a time per passenger, and will have two categories – Classic, and Suite.
The Classic Pod will accommodate 1 passenger at a time and will come with amenities like charging sockets, lockers, and baggage space.
The Suite Pod will be able to accommodate 2 passengers, and have personal lockers and Wi-Fi service.
The Pod Hotel run by IRCTC will have changing areas, cafeteria, lounge area, and even washrooms. The idea of Pod Hotel was first introduced in 2018, however it never came into existence.
