With the recent news of a pod facility provided at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai, the Central Railway is planning to provide the same pod facility at Pune railway station. Pod hotels are one of the emerging trends and have been praised for their comfort and design.
According to media reports, Shivaji Sutar, CR’s chief public relations officer, said that the pod hotels of the CR are a way to generate non-fare revenues. At the beginning of the year, the CR had installed a Digi-smart cloakroom or a Digi-locker facility at CSMT for passengers to keep their luggage. A tender of five years has been sealed with the company that runs the pod hotel at CSMT. Railway had provided the required space to carry out.
The Pod Hotel in Mumbai has received praise from the users. At present, the Mumbai pod has 30 spaces for single beds, six beds for double and four spaces for the family. For single occupancy, the amount charged by Mumbai Railway is Rs 499.
On the other hand, at present, the Pune Railway station currently can house up to 60 passengers. It has a rest room and dormitory. However, there are several complaints regarding cleanliness and hygiene.
A tender for the new facility will be released soon. It will be the same as the Mumbai pod hotels. The authorities have asked the Pune railway station to give the railway enough space to run pod hotels. These pod hotels are not only convenient but will also help in boosting tourism in the region.
Tracing the origin of pod hotels, it all first began in Japan. The hospitality sector provided pods or capsules to travellers. These pods or capsules are nothing but normal beds for a traveller to relax and chill.
