WR to introduce Digital Lounges for office-goers

Soon officer-goers who takes Western Railway (WR) trains can work at railway stations while waiting to catch their local, as WR is currently working on a plan of setting up co-working flex office spaces on the elevated decks at stations and terminuses, on the lines of European railway stations

MUMBAI: Soon officer-goers who takes Western Railway (WR) trains can work at railway stations while waiting to catch their local, as WR is currently working on a plan of setting up co-working flex office spaces on the elevated decks at stations and terminuses, on the lines of European railway stations.

WR to introduce Digital Lounges for office-goers

To be called ‘Digital Lounge’, the shared air-conditioned office space would be housed inside a large quadrilateral area, with single long or multiple tables and chairs, and electric plug points for charging laptops and mobile phones. It would have mini cubicles as well.

Hindustan Times had earlier reported on railways’ plan to create 147 acres of air space in the city. The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation is constructing elevated decks at 17 stations at a cost of ₹947 crore, under the Station Improvement Project. WR plans to utilise these large elevated decks in a few stations to create co-working spaces for passengers’ convenience.

The the elevated decks will also help in decongesting the platforms below, as food stalls, toilets and other amenities will be shifted up.

WR officials have already begun the process of identifying the stations where these lounges can be set up. Stations and terminuses that have prominent office and commercial areas nearby and see higher footfall of regular office-goers, would be prioritised, like Andheri, Goregaon, Borivali, Bandra Terminus, Mumbai Central, to name a few.

“We are trying to replicate the idea from railway stations in Europe where specific areas are allotted for passengers to work while waiting for the trains. We already have Executive Lounge for passengers to rest and the Digital Lounge will help to further improve passenger experience,” said a senior WR official.

Sources in WR said that the Digital Lounges can be part of their non-fare revenue model wherein they will look for private operators to set up these co-working spaces which would be chargeable on an hourly basis.

“We are looking at setting up co-working spaces which can accommodate anywhere between 20 to 50 people at any given time. The concept is to allow people to simply walk in and work in these spaces, while sipping a hot or cold drink and munching a bite,” said another WR official.

According to Colliers India, at least 4.7 million square feet of flex spaces were leased out in 2024. Interestingly, of all the demand sectors, flex space demand was the highest and accounted for 24% of the Grade A space uptake in the fourth quarter of 2024. Companies working in technology, banking and finance, engineering and manufacturing sectors demonstrated healthy leasing activity, crossing 10 million square feet leasing in 2024.