Imagine putting your feet up and turning on the reading light as you sit ensconced in a cushy recliner in a heavily-curtained room bathed in soothing light. All this while reading minus the sounds of nearly five lakh passengers and 300 trains moving around you at the New Delhi railway station!
Welcome to the “napping zone” of the railway station’s just revamped executive lounge. The revamped lounge, being run by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), saw a soft launch on May 25.
The lounge will now offer facilities like massage centre, a small 5D movie theatre, family rooms, business centre, comfortable sitting areas with complimentary drinks and a buffet offering some great food. It will offer a spa, health centre and many more facilities by the next month.
“The facilities we are offering now at the station are better than what one gets at many airports and that too at a cost that is 20 per cent of what one shells out at an airport,” said a senior IRCTC official.
The executive lounge is open to all bonafide railway travellers and the entry fee is Rs.150 for two hours. This allows a traveller to sit in the air-conditioned lounge and enjoy complimentary drinks like tea, coffee, lemonade, ice tea, etc., apart from the use of free wi-fi, and a spic and span toilet. After the first two hours, passengers will have to pay Rs.50 per hour. Those opting for a buffet breakfast have to shell out Rs.100 extra, while lunch or dinner will cost Rs.200. The lounge also offers wash and change facilities, which cost Rs.150 and include a complete bathing kit and toiletries.
The lounge is accessible through a swipe card, issued to a passenger at the time of check-in. The swipe card also calculates the time spent at the lounge. Entry is free for children up to three feet tall.
