Commuters using both suburban trains in the BeachTambaram and MRTS sections are a worried lot these days, as they have to park their two-wheelers in open and often unmonitored parking lots at the railway stations.
As railways failed to renew the contracts of many of these parking lots, there are no workers to collect parking fee and to keep an eye on the vehicles. As a result, many vehicles get stolen or fuel and components are pilfered.
There is no check on who parks vehicles and for how long. A parking lot at a suburban station earns around `7 lakh to `8 lakh per month. That works out to more than `20 lakh revenue loss per month as many parking lots did not have contracts in the last several months.
Railways keep the parking lots open even though a contractor has not been appointed because they cannot close down an amenity. A notice warns people that they are parking at their own risk. In the absence of CCTV cameras, leaving a parking lot unattended could be a security risk. Neither the police nor the railways can track if a vehicle gets stolen.
A visit to a few MRTS stations on Monday revealed that the vehicles were parked in the open. Be it Velchery, Perungudi or Taramani, many vehicle owners have left their vehicles at their own risk, as the GRP and the RPF personnel are not posted.
In Tambaram railway station, the law enforcing agencies have put up a board that the vehicles parked at the station premises are at owner's risk and no complaints will be accepted regarding theft of vehicle, said Raghu Raman, one of the commuters.
S Kanagarasa of Annai Indira Nagar, Velacherry, a trader having his shop in Parrys Corner area said he used to leave the vehicle in the parking area of Velachery MRTS station. When the parking lot was manned by a contractor at least 3,000 vehicles used to be parked at the place. Now, with the expiry and non-renewal of contracts, more vehicles are parked.
“Parts of the two-wheeler too go missing. I have started bringing my old vehicle.,” he added. Railway sources said that tenders are delayed due to litigation, arbitration, disagreement over space allotted and other problems.
“Parking lots were split and given to different firms to ensure that if one fails, the other will be functioning. Short term contracts for three months was brought in to earn some revenue while tenders are finalised.” A Pandia Raja, a frequent commuter, says “Railways should offer incentives in the first few months to attract people to take up the contracts.
Tenders should be given quickly as delays affect vehicle safety and revenue for railways.” As railway parking has become unreliable, private parking lots have come up at stations like Tiruninravur and Avadi where people pay more but are confident of safety
