Indian Railways is all set to unveil and inaugurate its first pod hotel at Mumbai Central Railway Station. According to reports, Union Minister of State (MoS) of Railways, Coal and Mines, Raosaheb Dadarao Patil Danve will formally inaugurate the state-of-the-art Pod concept retiring room at Mumbai Central railway station. 

Now, passengers looking for a comfortable stay after exhausting journeys can check-in at these pod concept compact retiring rooms with all modern amenities. These retiring rooms can be booked at comparatively cheaper rates. Pod hotels or capsule hotels were first established in Japan’s Osaka in the late 1970s in the heart of the city.

This modern pod hotel facility has been built on the first floor of the Mumbai Central Railway Station building. It consists of a total Pod inventory of 48, comprising 3 categories, namely 30 Classic Pods, 7 ladies only, 10 Private Pods and one for differently-abled as well.  

As per the reports, while the classic pods and ladies only pods will comfortably fit one guest, the private pod will also have a private space within the pod. The pod meant for differently-abled persons will comfortably fit 2 guests with space for free movement of wheelchair. 

Pod hotel booking charges:

According to a media report, the pod hotel at Mumbai Central will be available for all the passengers for 12 to 24 hours at the cost of Rs 999 and Rs 1,999 respectively.  A private pod can be availed for 12 to 24 hours at Rs 1,249 and Rs 2,499 respectively. The facility will offer affordable overnight accommodation and the pod hotel will have a number of small bed-sized capsules.

Key features of Pod hotel capsules:

• Each pod user will have access to free Wi-Fi, luggage room, toiletries, shower rooms, washrooms in common areas. 
• Inside the pod, the guest can avail facilities like TV, a small locker, mirror, adjustable air conditioner 
• The pod will have air filter vents, reading lights apart from interior light, mobile charging, smoke detectors and DND Indicators.

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had tweeted about the pod hotel project during his tenure as the Railway Minister. In his tweet, he had said, “Changing Country, Changing Railway: The country’s first POD hotel which offers world-class facilities in a low budget will be built at the Mumbai Central Railway Station. It will be able to accommodate more passengers in less space due to the special design.” The Minister had shared a video of the same.