CHENNAI: Turns out it is not just apartment residents or shoppers who fight for parking spaces! The tussle between Southern Railway and Chennai Metro Rail came to light on Wednesday when the railways threatened to stop vehicles from entering the parking lot of Egmore metro station. They accused Metro Rail of taking over railway land without proper documents and using it as a parking space.
On Tuesday, the Chennai Division office of Southern Railway sent a letter to Metro Rail asking them to stop parking vehicles in this space. Sources said Metro Rail has no proper documents to prove ownership for this land. A notice sent by Southern Railway was also stuck at the entrance of the station on Wednesday. Metro Rail has been asked to meet with Railways on December 26, to clarify this issue.
Around 700 scooters and 40 plus cars are parked here every day and generate a revenue of ` 20,000 to Metro Rail.”Though the number of passengers who use this station is not relatively less, many utilise the parking space as suburban station, bus stop and cental station is close by,” said an employee.
Metro Rail officials said negotiations are on with Southern Railway and denied that the land is being used illegally. “We had a similar issue with Airport Authority too, but came to a consensus later. We have all the necessary documents that will be submitted to railways soon. Parking will continue as usual,” said an official.