Mumbai Central station set to get executive lounge

Very soon, Mumbai Central station in the city will be able to boast of its own executive lounge akin to the Delhi version. With the lounge drawing positive response in Delhi, Jaipur and Agra, railway officials said, one in the city is in the offing.

The project was executed by the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) in these areas and officials have said the tender for the Mumbai Central station will be out by the end of this month and the process would take another three months.

“After the response we have garnered from passengers who have used the Delhi lounge, we feel there is a potential clientele in Mumbai too. The lounge can also be used to host last-minute small corporate meetings at the railway station,” said an official on condition of anonymity.

The rate of the lounge will be Rs 150 for the first two hours and an additional Rs 50 for an extra hour, said officials. Officials have identified a 1,500 square-foot plot opposite platform no. 5, which currently houses the parcel office. “A lot passengers pass through this area and it will be easy access for those who have just alighted from the train or are waiting to board it,” said the official.

The executive lounge is the brainchild of Union minister Suresh Prabhu, who has on several occasions said that he wants to change the mindset that rail travel is not for the corporate world.

Mumbai will get fast food chain Burger King outlet at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus by Diwali. “We plan to launch Burger King opposite platform no.1 where the trains on the Harbour line currently ply,” said an official.