Indian Railways Retiring Room Booking Process

Indian Railways is a vast transportation network in Asia that helps in commuting millions of passengers every day. It is a blessing in the transportation sector that people choose to travel in terms of affordability. The best part that makes the Indian Railways more comfortable and advanced means to travel is its facilities provided to the travellers. In the modern era, with the advancement of technology, railways have adopted full-fledged digitization and advanced their sector to facilitate the passengers. From on-board facilities to all the possible availability at the station premises, from online ticket booking to IRCTC food booking online for journey, Indian Railways has set an example to ease the train trip.

Have you ever experienced that your train is delayed and you have to wait at station premises for a longer duration? The continuous loud railway announcement, hassled and crowded platforms irritate the passenger to wait longer and it spoils the mood of the journey. It also makes the station premises overcrowded and busier. Indian Railways analysed the situation and decided to make a specific area for the travellers who have to stay at the station for a long period. This special area is known as Retiring rooms where passengers can wait till their train arrives/departs.

Indian Railways Retiring Rooms – An Overview 

IRCTC retiring room is a hotel kind of accommodation provided by Indian Railways at almost every railway junction for a stay when there is a gap in the journey and you want a space to rest or to wait. Booking a retiring room is a facility you can take to avoid the rush of platforms when waiting for the trains to arrive or need some rest after reaching the destination. You can book the rooms according to your need and comfort. There are both AC and Non-AC rooms available at an affordable price. 

Railways provide retiring rooms with single, double, and dormitory rooms. If you are a solo traveller and concerned about your privacy, you can opt for single bed retiring rooms and when you are travelling with your family or a group of two or 4 people can choose double bedrooms. You can also share your rooms with other guests by preferring the dormitory room services.

How to Book an Online Retiring Room at Railway Stations

The concept of retiring rooms is one of the great innovations brought by Indian Railways to facilitate the travellers when there is a longer break in their journey timing. Passengers can book the rooms either at their source station or the destination. It completely depends on where they want to make their stay. But, the most important term that comes in the way is how one can book the retiring rooms? With the revolution in the digital world and mobile phones, it has become easier to avail yourself of the facilities at your fingertips. Railways have welcomed such concern with an open heart that makes the journey easier. One can log in to the IRCTC ticket booking portal and can book IRCTC retiring room within a few clicks.

Here’re the steps that follow the rules of booking retiring rooms.

Step 1: Go to the IRCTC website, Go to the “More” option and click on the option “At Station.”

Step 2: When you click the option of “At Station”, you can see the option of retiring rooms, just click on that, and it will redirect you to the page of retiring rooms.

Step 3: Log in to your IRCTC registered account, if you are not registered with IRCTC, there is another option of “Guest account” where you can log in to book the rooms.

Step 4: When you will log in, it will ask you to enter the 10-digit PNR number, mentioned in your ticket. Enter the number and click on the search button. The moment you click on the search button, it will display all journey details like Train Number, Arrival date-time, Departure date-time, Source station, and Destination Station.

Step 5: Select the station where you want to make your stay. If you want to stay at the source station, click on the option of “Source Station” and if you want to book the room at your destination point, click on the option of “Destination Station”.

Note: The option it will ask you to choose is check-in date and timing, checkout date and timing, types of rooms (AC or Non-Ac), types of bed (Single, Double, Maharaja Suite, Dormitory), and quota (General, Female).

Step 6: Now click on the option of “check availability” see the details and select the option that suits you and make the payment to book the room.

Retiring Room Allocation Rule

• For solo travellers, there is a single or double bedroom or one bed in the dormitory which she/he can book.
• If the number of passengers is two, one can book a double bedroom or two single beds in the dormitory.
• If the number of passengers is three, one double bedroom and one single bedroom or three beds in the Dormitory can be booked. 
• If there are four travellers booking rooms, there will be four single beds or two double beds. 
• Booking a bed depends on the budget and the availability of rooms. If there are no private rooms available, one has to share them with other guests by choosing the option of dormitory rooms.

Conditions/Rules Applied with the Booking of Retiring Rooms

• The maximum number of travellers to book the room will be equivalent to the number of travellers mentioned on the ticket. If the ticket is booked for 5 travellers, rooms can be booked only for those five passengers.
• One cannot book the retiring rooms with a waiting ticket. Passengers travelling with confirmed tickets can only book the rooms.
• There is also a facility for cancelling the booked retiring rooms but with a deduction which will depend on the slot and timing of the cancellation.
• Retiring rooms are booked with the IRCTC accommodation facility.
• When the rooms are booked online, then, the booking could not be cancelled offline or from the counter.
• Identity proof is required while booking rooms.
• Booking is available between 12:00 AM to 11:30 PM.

IRCTC online retiring room booking is available at 338 railway stations. You can book a retirement room for yourself 60 days in advance to rest at the railway station. 

Fare of Retiring Room Booking

Indian Railways have offered such luxurious service at a budget-friendly price which you can avail of easily to avoid the excess crowd of the platform. The price to book retiring rooms varies according to the station. If you are booking rooms at small stations, it is quite cheaper but when you will avail of the facility of rooms at big stations like New Delhi, Chennai, and  Lucknow, it will cost more in comparison to the small stations. 

Prices also vary according to the slot and duration of the booking. Charges depend on the criteria of booking like the type of rooms and bed you want to book. But, it is quite affordable compared to staying in hotels. The minimum slot of booking is 12 hours while the maximum duration to book the rooms is from 48 hours. Although, hourly basis room booking is also available at a few stations.

from 1 hour booking to 48 hours. You must know that If You book retiring a room for more than 24 hrs periods. It occurs in two slots. The combination of retiring room slots can be in 12+24, 24+12 and 24+24. Second slot assumes an extension of booking of first slot and a 25% extra tariff of the second slot is being charged.

Retiring room price for one bed includes base fare, IRCTC charge, and GST.

Here is IRCTC Service Charge list

Basic fare of room depends on the type of room.

How many days can I stay in the retiring Room?

You can stay in the retiring room for a maximum of 48 hours or a minimum of 1 hour if an hourly basis booking is available at that particular station. 

Do Railway Retiring Rooms Have Bathrooms?

Yes, retiring rooms include AC and non-AC rooms that have attached/common bathrooms, AC and non-AC dormitories that have common bathrooms, limited food and beverages services, and lockers.

What are other facilities Indian Railways provide?

Indian Railways provide various facilities to rail passengers such as the facility to book retiring rooms, check PNR status of tickets, live train status, e-catering services on the train, Wi-Fi, and cloakroom at stations. There are also various rail inquiry apps to get rail information. RailMitra is one of the rail apps which helps passengers in getting numerous rail information. 

It is an AI-enabled rail app and website which allows passengers to check PNR status, live train status, train schedule, seat availability, trains between stations, etc. Using this app, you can also book food on the train. 

Besides, RailMitra is the best app to stay updated with the news related to railways.