Amenities define the experience here. A food court offers everything from quick snacks to proper meals, retail outlets cater to essential and leisure shopping, and an integrated hotel provides convenience for travellers in transit.
Arriving at a railway station in India usually means crowds, noise, and the smell of hot chai in the air. But the moment you enter Bhopal’s Rani Kamalapati Railway Station, the scene completely changes. This is India’s first railway station to be run by a private company, and it aims to show what the future of train travel in the country could look like. Earlier known as Habibganj, the station was rebuilt through a Public-Private Partnership at a cost of about Rs. 450 crore. It was officially launched in 2021 and now manages close to 30,000 passengers every day. The station is operated by the Bansal Group, while the Indian Railway Stations Development Corporation (IRSDC) provides oversight. The ownership still lies with the Government of India, but the day-to-day functioning has the smoothness and discipline of a privately run facility.
Airport-style comfort
Travellers entering this railway station are welcomed by an impressive 84m × 36m air-concours. The waiting lounges are spacious, bright, and purposefully designed to make long waits comfortable. Clear multilingual signage, sharply lit digital boards with real-time train updates, and well-organised passenger flow replace the usual sense of bustle with refreshing calm.
Amenities define the experience here. A food court offers everything from quick snacks to proper meals, retail outlets cater to essential and leisure shopping, and an integrated hotel provides convenience for travellers in transit. The station is also equipped with a super-speciality hospital and office spaces. It also has covered parking, round-the-clock power backup, purified drinking water stations, and high-speed lifts and escalators.
Bhopal’s Rani Kamalapati Railway Station provides luxury with purpose
- The station has been built with sustainability in mind.
- Solar panels on the roof provide much of the station’s power.
- LED lights and efficient systems helped it earn a 5-star GEM Sustainability certificate.
- It shows that modern facilities and caring for the environment can go together.
- Security is designed like international standards.
- The entire area is covered by advanced CCTV cameras.
- Separate entry and exit lanes help passengers move easily.
- Automatic ticket machines reduce long queues.
- The layout of the station—from concourse to platforms—is made to be accessible for all, including seniors and people with disabilities.
- The station is now a major stop for premium trains.
- Trains like Vande Bharat, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, and Duronto stop here regularly.
- This connects Bhopal directly with big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bengaluru.
- Passengers get the comfort of a modern station along with the speed of India’s best long-distance trains.
