Bikes don’t fare well at train stations in Chennai

Every morning, what worries K Murugan is not whether his suburban train from Guduvanchery to Guindy will arrive on time, but if his new bike will remain safe at the station’s parking lot for the 10 hours he’s away at work. “I bought the bike six months ago and it is one of my prized possessions. I don’t want to return from work to find scratches on it or a rear view mirror missing,” says the 30-year-old.
Murugan’s anxiety reflects that of several thousand commuters who form the 11-lakh clientele of Chennai division’s daily suburban ridership.

The division has 158 stations, in which there are 87 spots demarcated for parking, covering a whopping 1.06 lakh square metres. Each spot is tendered out to private contractors for a small fortune. For a 3-month contract at Guduvanchery station, a contractor pays `24.33 lakh. At Tambaram, the contractor pays Railways close to `5 crore for a three-year term.
Commuters, however, complain about lack of basic facilities like smooth pavements, roofing, security and a transparent payment system at the parking spaces, for which they pay around `10 for six hours. Many are unaware that they can claim compensation for damages to their vehicles from contractors, which is a part of the tender condition, vetted by TOI.
Facilities like paving can be provided only if funds are released from the Railway Board. There are practical difficulties too in executing the work, as the parking lot would have to be closed for several days causing more chaos, say officials.
While the Railway authorities are unable to find contractors to manage parking at around 30 locations, the election model code of conduct has restricted them from awarding tenders to contractors identified in some locations.
Fed up of the disarrayed parking spaces, several commuters in stations like Washermenpet and Egmore have switched to metro rail services, say railway sources. In Beach station, they lie to be railway employees to park inside the station.
At some stations like Chengalpet, the railway’s parking lot extends into the walking space for commuters. “It is ridiculous to charge commuters for parking on the road. There is no roof or a sense of safety of the vehicles,” says Sandip, a resident.
Contract conditions allow Railways to penalise contractors `5,000-`10,000 for lack of facilities or even to terminate contracts of repeat defaulters. But this is an option rarely resorted to, as having no contractor is a worse proposition than a floundering one.
This deficiency in service has opened up the venue to private players. Several private parking lots have mushroomed near stations, offering commuters better infrastructure and sense of security for a few extra bucks.
Explaining why he prefers private parking, K Baskar of Tiruvallur, says a private stand near the station has staff who remembers every commuter by name. “He ensures that the two-wheelers are neatly segregated since he knows which commuter has parked for a short time and which one will return after 8-10 hours,” says Baskar.
Railway officials say they are aware of the issues and are working to improve parking facilities on mission mode, having identified new parking lots at stations in the latest move.