Waiting Rooms At Railway Stations In India

Indian Railways has provided people with two different kinds of waiting rooms for the purpose of waiting for a train or after arriving in the station through trains and wish to rest for a day or two.

• Waiting Rooms
• Retiring Rooms

The waiting rooms are present in the station itself which are suitable for staying for short durations and are usually free.
Typically, the waiting rooms are preferable for travellers who are required to wait for the next train or for outbound journey. These rooms are found near the platforms and can be availed by both first class and second class passengers.

Seating arrangements are quite abundant in such waiting rooms where the passengers can sit and wait for their next train. Reservations are not necessary and therefore people arriving first can take up the seats on that basis. Most of these rooms are not air-conditioned. Facilities to attend toilets are present in these kinds of waiting rooms, but, there might not be any arrangements for showering in these toilets.

Most of the major railway stations have these waiting rooms, but one cannot be sure of their presence in all stations across India.

Retiring Rooms Indian Railways

• Retiring room concept is present in larger stations, such as in Chennai, Mumbai, or Delhi. For availing these retiring rooms, there is a fee for its use. To be able to use the rooms meant for retiring, people need to possess a ticket of travelling in Indian Railways which can be either for a completed journey or in an outbound journey.
• These rooms for retiring can be basic rooms or dormitory or even suites with options of air conditioning in some and absent in others. Air conditioning options is not found in every station. The cost of staying in the retiring rooms depends on the accommodation type available and selected by the passengers. There are bathing arrangements in such rooms.
• In the dormitory set up, there are cabinets available, where the travellers can put their items and lock it using their own locks.

Retiring Room Rental Charges In India

• Charges levied on the retiring rooms are different from one station to another which can be changed by the respective authorities in the railway stations. This is exemplified in the charges levied in Mumbai retiring rooms where the cost for Double AC rooms is Rs 1600, Rs 450 for double rooms without AC and only Rs 300 for dormitories, these being charged for a single day. These prices can be lower in other stations.
• Retiring rooms can be booked on first arrival basis, provided these people have a ticket for travelling in an incoming train or for outbound journeys. People should check out the vacancies in different stations as staying in the retiring rooms can be cheaper from the hotels near the stations.
• People can stay in the retiring rooms for a maximum of 2 days, but the stay can be elongated by asking permission from the matron in charge. The aim of railway authorities is to prevent long stays by people as in hotels because they want other needy passengers to stay in such rooms.
• In some stations, these retiring rooms can be taken up for a short period of only 12 hours rather than a full day. For passengers choosing to go for stay for more than a day, the charges are increased by about 25% for every day.