Chennai Metro Rail Limited likely to hike parking fee for non-commuters in stations soon

CMRL to increase parking fees for non-commuters at Chennai Metro stations due to high demand and limited space.

Owing to high demand and in a bid to give regular travellers parking space, Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) is likely to increase the parking fee for non-commuters soon.

The Metro Rail network, which spans 54 km, covers some of the arterial roads in the city on its Phase I corridors (Washermenpet to Chennai Airport and Chennai Central to St. Thomas Mount) and Phase I Extension corridor (Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar).

Most of the stations have been provided with parking facilities with varying capacities depending on their sizes. But in stations with high footfalls, these facilities are still inadequate due to high demand.

According to officials of CMRL, apart from commuters, many non-commuters also leave their vehicles in the station’s parking space owing to the safety and affordable parking fee. As a result, in stations such as Chennai Airport, Meenambakkam, Anna Nagar Tower, Thirumangalam, Anna Nagar East, Toll Gate, and Nanganallur, the parking space gets filled quickly during peak hours, leaving no room for commuters.

“We want to give priority to those who use the Metro Rail. They should be able to park freely. Hence, we are planning to increase the parking fee for non-commuters in a few weeks. The hike in each station will be dependent on the demand and footfall. When people swipe the card to exit the parking, the machine will be able to detect if they’ve used the train service based on the last few transactions and charge them accordingly,” a CMRL official said.

Last June, the CMRL began providing discounted parking fee for frequent commuters. Now, if a commuter pays ₹10 for parking a two-wheeler, a non-commuter will have to pay ₹20. This amount is likely to increase soon.