The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), a Government of India enterprise, has offered to renovate and operate the retiring rooms at Villupuram, Mayiladuthurai and Kumbakonam railway stations in the Tiruchi Railway Division.
These are among the five major stations in the division that recorded an increase in earnings and passenger movements during the 2022-2023 financial year. The IRCTC had renovated the retiring rooms at the Tiruchi railway junction a few years ago and subsequently took up the project of giving a facelift to the retiring rooms at the Thanjavur railway junction.
A senior IRCTC official said the renovation of the retiring rooms, including the interior works, at Thanjavur Junction had been completed. Power connection was awaited as the cable had to be re-laid in view of the station improvement works which were currently under way at the Thanjavur station under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
Once the power connection was provided, the refurbished rooms would be cleaned and thrown open to the passengers, the official said, exuding hope that power connection would be restored soon. There are eight retiring rooms at Thanjavur station each with a double bed cot. In addition to these, there are a couple of dormitory rooms with five beds and four beds respectively.
The IRCTC had issued the Letter of Award in June 2022 to a private agency for renovation, operation, maintenance, and transfer back of the retiring rooms and dormitories at Thanjavur railway station for nine years from the date of the commissioning of the unit.
The official said the IRCTC has offered to refurbish and operate the retiring rooms at Villupuram, Mayiladuthurai and Kumbakonam stations. Station improvement work under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme is under way at Villupuram and Mayiladuthurai railway junctions besides at other identified stations in Tiruchi division.
The Southern Railway administration has a separate plan for the redevelopment of the Kumbakonam railway station for which a detailed project report was under preparation. A senior railway official said station improvement work at Thanjavur Junction was expected to take a couple of months for completion.
