Dropping off passengers at railway stations like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Kurla LTT will follow a system similar to ones at shopping malls. The Central Railway (CR) authorities are working on a system wherein parking will no longer be free after 5 minutes of a vehicle entering the station premises.
The CR authorities are looking out for two things – access-controlled parking facility and time limit for arriving and departing passengers – at these two terminuses. There will be boom barriers at the entry gates that are expected to open based on tickets issued by a machine there and at time of departure, parking charges have to be paid depending on the time spent there. Sources said that they have called for tenders and are expecting quotations to come in by May 25.
“The primary objective is to facilitate and regulate vehicle borne passengers availing ‘pickup and drop’ facility by controlled entry/exit at stations. The vehicles are to be permitted to pickup/drop the passengers only at designated locations for limited time, without hindering the through movement. Dedicated lanes may be earmarked for vehicles movement and may include boom barriers and manned counters,” said a CR official.
At CSMT, 1,754 sq.m of land space will be available while 3,193 sq.m of land will be available at Kurla LTT, for parking cum access control. The CR authorities are expecting Rs 40.73 lakh from reserve price kept for three months on these two plots.
Currently there are no charges for vehicles entering and exiting these two railway terminuses while dropping or picking up passengers irrespective of how long they wait there. As per plans, the pickup and drop vehicle entry charges for CSMT and Kurla LTT will be nil for first 5 minutes, 5-15 minutes a vehicle will have to pay Rs 50 and upto 30 minutes vehicle will have to pay Rs 200. Likewise parking charges too have been proposed for vehicles including bicycles, at these two stations.