Central Railway (CR) has opened a new air-conditioned waiting lounge, known as Namah, at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) that will serve commuters at the station for a fee of just ₹10 per hour.
However, authorities added that they will initially collect ₹50 from the passengers upon entry as security deposit and refund the rest of the amount when they leave the lounge. While children below the age of 5 can enter for free, those between the ages of 5 and 12 will only be charged ₹5 per hour, the authorities added.
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This waiting lounge is situated near the corridor that links to platforms 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 with the entrance of the CSMT mainline station. Authorities also said that that this lounge is operated under a private-public partnership.
This new waiting room/lounge will contain dining tables, sofas, toilets, bathroom with bath kits, library, cafes, laptop-focused seats with dedicated charging points, disposable linen kits, and more. To make sure passengers are aware of their upcoming train journeys, the authorities have also installed an LED screen which shows the arrival and departure times of upcoming trains. These lounges will also have speakers that reflect the station operator’s announcements.
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Chief Public Relations Officer at Central Railway, Shivaji Sutar said - “Our aim is to provide better passenger amenities at our stations. If the model is successful, we will explore setting up similar lounges at other stations like LTT, Dadar, Thane and Kalyan where long-distance passenger trains halt or terminate.”
“As compared to lounges at airports, the fee is pocket-friendly. The general waiting rooms will remain free,” Sutar added while saying that the general idea behind this is to avoid crowding at railway platforms.
In addition to the new lounge/waiting room, CR has also started a bag wrapping and sanitizing facility at CSMT for the passengers. The charges are fixed between ₹60 to ₹80 depending on the size of the luggage.
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