New facilities that came up at the railway station in Vizag in recent years

Over the years, Vizag has undergone a lot of changes and so has its railway station. While the core structure of this railway station has mostly remained the same, some new facilities have been added by the authorities to facilitate the passengers of Vizag. Due to these developments, the Visakhapatnam railway station was declared the cleanest of all A1 railway stations in 2017. The standard of cleanliness, being maintained at the station in 2018, had impressed the then Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan. Even during the pandemic, Visakhapatnam railway station was instrumental in controlling the spread of Covid-19, by turning train coaches into isolation wards. 

Here are some of the exciting facilities to have come up at Visakhapatnam railway station in recent years:

#1 Gaming Zone

About 2 years ago, the East Coast Railway (ECoR) decided to relieve the boredom of passengers by installing a gaming zone at the Visakhapatnam railway station. This facility, on platform no. 1, is a huge attraction for passengers and their kids who have to wait a long time before their trains arrive. From car racing to gun shooting to basketball to air hockey, a wide range of games are available at this zone. 

#2 Video Calling Kiosk

Called the Human Interactive Interface (HII) system, this digital kiosk comes in very handy for passengers who wish to contact someone. This service is completely free of cost and is available on platform no. 1 at the station. Some of the prominent features of this kiosk are free mobile and video calling, an interactive touch screen, and fast charging ports. The interactive screen will provide passengers with weather updates, train schedules, local tourist attractions and city maps, all powered by Google. 

#3 Health Kiosk

During the Covid-19 pandemic, ECoR installed a health kiosk at the railway station where passengers can get health checkups done. Here, as many as 30 tests can be availed at a cost of Rs. 100. 

#4 Renovated Reserve Lounge

The special VIP lounge, on platform no. 1, was recently renovated. The lounge was expanded by about 400 square feet and amenities, like reclining chairs, espresso machines, TV, etc, were added. An AI assistant operates the lights and fans in this lounge, providing thorough relaxation to the passengers. 

#5 Sanitary Napkin Vending Machine

In a progressive effort to facilitate female passengers, a sanitary napkin vending machine was set up at the Visakhapatnam railway station a few years ago. The machine is named “Happy Nari” and is located on platform no. 1. Female passengers can avail sanitary napkins from this machine at a nominal fee of Rs. 5 per napkin. It can dispense up to 200 sanitary napkins after which it needs to be refilled. The sanitary napkin vending machine project was funded by the East Coast Railway Women Welfare Organization, under the Waltair Division, at a cost of Rs 20,000. It is one of the most important facilities at the railway station in Vizag.

#6 Escalators and Lifts

In order to make the journey more convenient for passengers, ECoR has installed escalators and elevators on various platforms at the railway station. Currently, 2 escalators are functional while 4 more are to come soon. Meanwhile, there are 2 lifts at the railway station, each lift having a capacity of 500 kg. These facilities allow passengers to go from one platform to another easily. 

#7 Robotic Spa

Train journeys can be very exhausting on the passengers’ feet and ECoR has taken note of that. A Robotic Spa was installed on platform no. 1 at the station a few months ago. The spa has facilities from a relaxing chair to a foot massager to a fish pedicure (which is in-trend nowadays). This allows passengers to relax as they wait for their trains to arrive.

#8 Pandemic Preventive Gear

With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, passengers have been able to get PPE kits and disposable linen at the Visakhapatnam railway station, before they set off on their journeys. This facility is located on platform no. 8. This ensures that passengers travel safely to and fro from Vizag and don’t contract Covid-19.