MRTS commuters irked over parking space at stations being rented out to others

MRTS commuters frustrated by lack of parking spaces at stations, leading to exposure of vehicles to weather conditions.

For Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) commuters, parking space at stations play a crucial role as lack of last-mile connectivity forces them to drive their vehicles to the station.

While commuters were irked over the fact that contractors were not appointed to manage railway station parking lots for some time, the practice of renting out parking space to others, who are not MRTS commuters, on a monthly basis has now drawn their ire. With the vehicles of the non-commuters, mostly cars and omni vans, occupying most of the space at parking lots, regular commuters say their vehicles are being exposed to the vagaries of weather.

T. Somanathan of Seethapathy Nagar said this was the case at the Perungudi MRTS station, located on the periphery of the city and lacking proper bus facilities or local transport. “Commuters with two-wheelers have no choice but to park their vehicles outside the sheds. In Taramani station too, commuters experience the same issue,” he added. Similarly, parking space has been rented out to vehicles of non-commuters in Kotturpuram, Greenways Road, Light House, Triplicane and Chepauk MRTS stations. For regular train commuters, the parking fee is charged on a 12-hour basis.

Though the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) operates about 80 small buses on 60 routes, the last-mile connectivity has not really worked in the city. Therefore, commuters depend on private transport to reach railway stations.

On the MRTS section operated from Velachery to Chennai Beach, some of the railway stations do not have last-mile connectivity forcing commuters to use their own vehicles. MRTS stations such as Perungudi, Taramani, Kotturpuram, Greenways Road, and Mandaveli have no proper last-mile connectivity. Hence, parking space has become a necessity, commuters said.

Despite the availability of ample parking space on the ground floors of the MRTS stations (as the tracks are elevated), commuters complain that the covered parking space has been rented out to vehicles of non-commuters.

A parking contractor in Taramani said the parking space was taken on lease at high premiums and to compensate for the low footfall in some railway stations, the space was rented out on a monthly basis. A senior official of Southern Railway said in some MRTS stations, the parking space was allotted to contractors at high prices. They, in turn, are permitted to rent the space to vehicles of non-commuters.