Kochi: Soon, major railway stations in Thiruvananthapuram division will have air-conditioned cubicles where passengers can wait for trains in cool comfort at cheap rates. The initiative, being implemented on an experimental basis, has been undertaken following the success of AC waiting rooms at stations like Ernakulam South, Ernakulam Town, Thrissur, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram. “This is a new initiative being done on an experimental basis across divisions in the country. What we plan is to give space to interested parties to set up air-conditioned cubicles having 25 to 30 seats. The interested parties can decide whether to give free service or charge nominal rates, much lesser than that of AC waiting rooms,” said a senior official.
The advantage of cubicles is that they can be removed any time without any hassle as no concrete structure is involved. “We plan to lease out space currently provided for refreshment stalls. The cubicles can be set up following specific standards prescribed by us like height and distance,” the official said. The AC waiting rooms at five stations, managed by Kudumbashree, have many takers.
“On an average, daily 400 persons avail the facility. The waiting hall at Ernakulam South is enjoying the highest demand with ticket collection of Rs 22.36 lakh in the 2017-18 financial year as against Rs 16,48,522 a year ago. The ones at Ernakulam North recorded a collection of Rs 10.81 lakh,” the senior official said. Currently, the Railways and Kudumbashree Mission share the revenue on a fifty-fifty basis.
“We’ll be adding more facilities and also plan to give more share of the profit to the Kudumbashree from next month onwards as they are doing the investment,” he said. The facilities in the AC waiting room includes free WiFi, kids play zone, newspapers/magazines, mini library, TV, Gents and Ladies wash rooms, breast feeding console, infant change room, Train ‘On Call’. Users will be charged '25 for an hour.
