The steep rise in parking charges for two wheelers and bicycles at the Central Railway Station has come in as a shocker for the commuters. Passengers have to dig deep into their pockets as the price rise, which came into effect on October 16, is as high as 200 per cent.
Parking charges for two wheelers shot up to Rs 20 from Rs 6 per day and Rs 25 has been fixed for every subsequent day. Even bicycles were not spared, with the parking rates increased to Rs 11 a day.
“I am shelling out Rs 480 a month to park my bicycle here,” Ratham, a milkman, said. Hailing from K N Kandigai village near Ponneri in Tiruvallur district, he used to commute by EMU train everyday to Chennai to sell milk. The parking lot at Central railway station has capacity for more than 1,000 motorcycles and bicycles. Thousands of passengers travelling between Chennai and neighbouring Tiuvallur and Vellore districts take the suburban trains to reach their destinations. Complaining that the revised charges were exorbitant, a passenger said the hike in parking charges has caused a lot of trouble for commuters who use the parking facility everyday.
When contacted, a railway senior official from the commercial department of Chennai division, said. “The hourly charges are uniform for A1 railway stations across the country and as Central Railway Station falls under this category, we have revised the rates on a par with other stations.”