The next time you have to take a pit stop at Pune railway station because your train is delayed or for any other reason, you can simply check-in into any of the retiring rooms newly started by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in the ‘heritage building’ of the railway station. The IRCTC has opened luxurious waiting rooms with dormitories, including the ‘Maharaja AC suite’ and deluxe private rooms with five-star hotel facilities, inside the ‘heritage building’ of Pune railway station. One side of the entire first floor has been used by the IRCTC so it is important to check about permissions while making changes to the heritage structure.
As per information shared by the IRCTC, there are several options available to passengers – from separate non-AC dormitories for male and female passengers to AC dormitories to non-AC deluxe rooms to one deluxe AC room with a king-size bed to one special, fully-furnished ‘Maharaja AC suite’ complete with two big beds, sofas and attached bathrooms. There are 50 beds in the two dormitories for male and female passengers while five rooms have been developed into other kinds of accommodation and given the names of flowers namely, Lotus, Jasmine and Tulip.
All these accommodation rooms are given in time slots of three, six, nine, 12 and 24 hours. The starting range of the normal non-AC dormitory is ₹200 for three hours while the Maharaja suite is available at ₹2,500 for 24 hours. In this suite, an entire family can be accommodated and all the necessary facilities such as beds, washrooms, storage, mobile charging, hot water, etc. are provided. Passengers who want to stay for a few hours or one day waiting for their train can book accommodation only through the IRCTC website or mobile application.
News Source: Hindustan Times
