Commuters affected as Tambaram rail station yet to get contractor for parking lots

With the situation remaining the same for more than three months now, several employees, who live in the southern suburbs and have travel to the city for work, are the worst-hit. According to the sources, only one two-wheeler parking lot, which has a capacity of just 100 vehicles, is functioning now.

Serving as a transit hub, the Tambaram railway is station is the third busies terminal after Egmore and Central railway stations. People who live in surrounding areas of Tambaram like Perungalathur, Vandalur and Urapakkam would park their two-wheelers at Tambaram station and board the EMUs to reach the city.

Commuters said that there were five parking lots functioning in the station premises. A few months ago, one of them was closed for the construction of a bridge. “Subsequently, the other three parking lots were abandoned without parking contractors. We feel unsafe to use them as there is no assurance if our two-wheeler would be safe,” said a commuter. “I have a monthly pass as I use the train service regularly. The parking lot which is functional is overloaded and the vehicles are getting damaged frequently. My indicators and headlight are broken due the space crunch,” said S Parthiban, a commuter who uses the facility at the railway station.

While the commuters are fighting to find some space for their two-wheelers, the parking lot also has several vehicles which have been lying unclaimed for several months. “The officials check and remove these vehicles so that regular commuters could use them,” added Parthiban.

When contacted, Tambaram railway station master Srinivasan said that the authorities are aware of the issue and the process of license renewal is under way. “Hopefully, license would be renewed within a month the and the problem would be solved,” he added.