Central Railway is hopeful that its new air-conditioned dormitory at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) here will garner good response from passengers, a senior CR official said today.
The 74-bed dormitory, an addition to the existing 148-bed service at the CST, was inaugurated yesterday by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu via weblink.
“There has always been a demand for such service, specially at the CST. Therefore, our administration decided to extend the facility to the more passengers and we did so by doubling up the beds which is designed like the AC two-tier, first class coaches,” Narendra Patil, Chief PRO of CR said.
Patil, while taking a round of the new dormitory, said the first facility launched three years ago had received good response from passengers and railways always got 90 to 100 per cent bookings for it.
The 148-bed dormitory has 108 beds for males and 40 beds for female passengers.
The dormitory facility is aimed for those who come to the city on business for a short stay say one or two day and booking facility has been classified for 12 hours and 24 hours, he said.
Charges for the 12 hours and 24 hours staying in the dormitory has been fixed as Rs 150 and Rs 250 only and confirmed ticket passengers will have to present their dormitory ticket print or show message in their email inbox.
Booking for the service can be made manually as well as online through www.railtourismindia.com and an extension can be done by re-booking on the same PNR (number). But in that case, previously alloted bed may be changed, he said.
Under the existing rules, passengers are permitted to stay for 48 hours after their arrival at the destination.
