Title - New entry point likely to come up at New Delhi railway station - The Economic Times

NEW DELHI: With the twin objectives of easing rush and facilitating hassle-free boarding at New Delhi station, Railways is actively considering to make an additional entry point to the station for passengers.

Named as Premier Access, passengers will have to pay a fee to avail the facility for entering the platform using a separate gate at the New Delhi station.

Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, while inspecting the station on Friday, had instructed the Delhi division of Northern Railway to explore the Premier Access system to ease out the passenger rush at the main entrance of the station.

"After the instruction of Railway Minister, we are exploring to make State Entry Road entrance available for passengers at the Pahargunj side of the station. Similar arrangement of separate gate at Ajmeri side is also being explored," a senior Northern Railway official said.

New Delhi station handles over 300 trains and approximately 5.5 lakh passengers each day.

"The footfalls at the station increased to about 7.5 lakh this festive season," the official said, adding that the Premium Access system will help in easing out the load at the entrance to some extent. The fee amount has not yet been decided.

The official said an executive lounge, first-of-its-kind for Railways, will be operational from next month at the New Delhi station.

The executive lounge will have facilities like seating arrangement, food and beverage, books and magazines, wheel chairs for senior citizens and the handicapped. It will also have Wi-Fi facility, business centre with fax, laptop facility, locker facility and wash room.

"The construction of lounge at 300 sq m area at platform 16 of New Delhi station is complete now and we are ready to open it next month. One needs to pay Rs 300 to avail the executive lounge for three hours," the official said.

The IRCTC, a subsidiary of Railways, will be managing the executive lounge. There will be trained staff at the lounge to assist passengers.

From receiving passengers to arranging porters for carrying their luggage and helping them board the coaches safely, rail volunteers of the executive lounge will be available to serve on payment, the official said.

Besides New Delhi, the executive lounges will also come at other major stations like Howrah, Mumbai, Bangalore, Agra and Chennai to provide value added service to passengers.