Railway Cloak Room — Store Luggage at Stations Safely

Cloak rooms at railway stations are official luggage storage facilities where you can safely deposit your bags while exploring a city during a layover. Instead of dragging suitcases through Varanasi ghats or Jaipur bazaars, leave them at the station cloak room and travel light.

How Cloak Rooms Work

1. Go to the cloak room at the station (usually near Platform 1 or the main entrance)
2. Show a valid train ticket (arriving or departing from that station)
3. Each bag is inspected (security check — they'll open and look)
4. You receive a token/receipt for each bag
5. Pay the storage charge
6. Collect your bags by showing the token when you return

Rates

Duration	Charge per Bag (approx.)
First 24 hours	₹20-30
Each additional 24 hours	₹25-40
After 3 days	Higher rates, varies by station

Rates are nominal. Even storing 3 bags for a full day costs less than ₹100. It's one of the cheapest luggage storage options in any city.

Operating Hours

Most cloak rooms are open 24 hours at major stations. Smaller stations may have fixed hours (typically 6 AM to 10 PM). Always check at the station or call 139 to confirm.

Security

Cloak rooms have improved security over the years:

• CCTV surveillance at most major stations


• Lock-and-key storage — your bag is placed in a locked area


• Token system — only the person with the matching token can retrieve the bag


• Security scanning — bags are scanned or manually checked before acceptance

What they won't accept:

• Perishable items (food, flowers)


• Flammable or hazardous materials


• Items without proper closure (open bags, loose bundles)


• Very large items that don't fit standard shelving


• Electronic items without proper packing (for some stations)

Which Stations Have Cloak Rooms?

Almost all A1 and A category stations have cloak rooms. Major ones:

New Delhi, Old Delhi, Mumbai CST, Mumbai Central, Howrah, Sealdah, Chennai Central, Bangalore City, Secunderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Varanasi, Lucknow, Agra, Bhopal, Pune, Goa (Madgaon), Amritsar, Haridwar, Dehradun, Patna, Ranchi, Guwahati.

Smaller stations may have informal storage with the station master's office, but no dedicated cloak room.

Practical Scenarios

Layover in a city: You arrive in Agra at 7 AM by train and your next train to Jaipur is at 9 PM. Dump your bags in the cloak room and spend the day at the Taj Mahal. Day trip from your base city: You're staying in Delhi and want a day trip to Agra by Shatabdi. Leave your hotel bags at New Delhi station cloak room, take the Shatabdi, visit Agra, return by evening Shatabdi, collect bags. Train delay: Your connecting train is 6 hours late. Store bags in the cloak room and explore the station area or grab a meal without lugging everything around.

Tips

Keep valuables with you. Don't leave laptops, cash, jewelry, or important documents in the cloak room. Carry them in a small backpack. Note the cloak room's operating hours. If it closes at 10 PM and your train is at midnight, collect your bags before closing time. Keep the token safe. Losing the token means a lengthy process of proving ownership before your bags are released. Pack bags properly. Cloak rooms may reject loosely packed or torn bags. Use sturdy suitcases or properly zipped backpacks. Arrive early to collect. If you need bags before your train departure, account for the collection time — 10-15 minutes during busy periods.

Plan your layovers and day trips using indianrail.app. Knowing your train timings helps you maximize the time between dropping off and collecting luggage.