Chennai Metro Rail stations run short of space for parking vehicles
The Hindu
Chennai Metro Rail commuters struggle to find parking spaces in some stations due to insufficient parking for the 2.7-2.8 lakh people who travel daily. Last-mile connectivity options are lacking, forcing commuters to take their two-wheelers or four-wheelers. St. Thomas Mount station has a huge parking space, but it gets waterlogged during rain. CMRL is trying to acquire additional land to increase capacity by 30-40% by mid-next year.
Among the thousands of people taking Chennai Metro Rail trains, a significant number from the southern and western suburbs commute to the core areas of the city through this mass rapid transit because it saves time. Many of those who travel from these areas usually take their two-wheelers or four-wheelers, park them in the stations, and hop onto a train. But of late, it is a struggle for these commuters to find a parking space in some of the stations in the Phase I network.
Commuters say the proportion of those travelling versus the parking provided is grossly insufficient. While about 2.7 lakh to 2.8 lakh people travel a day across the 54 km network of Chennai Metro Rail, it has become a race for commuters to get a parking slot in some of the stations like Thirumangalam, Chennai airport, Nanganallur, Meenambakkam, Thousand Lights, Government Estate, Anna Nagar Tower, and Alandur. These stations have a high demand because they cater to commuters from several areas.
While people from areas like Retteri, Thirumangalam, Mogappair, Padi, Kolathur, and even Ambattur use Thirumangalam station, those from Tambaram, Chromepet, Pallavaram, and Chitlapakkam come to the airport station, Meenambakkam station, or even Nanganallur station. Hundreds of these travellers use their two-wheelers to reach either of these two stations.
Though urban planning experts reiterate the need to either walk to the station or use last-mile connectivity, the lack of mini-buses or shared autos has forced commuters to resort to travelling by their bikes or cars.
S. Balasubramanian, a resident of Nanganallur who often travels by metro says he takes his bike to the nearest station, Meenambakkam, after which he boards the train. “The parking space in Meenambakkam is very limited. Hence, if I go during the peak hours, I won’t find any space to park my vehicle. I have to reach before 9 a.m. if I need to get a slot for my two-wheeler. Sometimes, I end up going to St. Thomas Mount station because there is a lot of parking space there,” he adds.
While St. Thomas Mount station has a huge parking space, it suffers from a peculiar problem wherein during rain, commuters have to wade through water to park their vehicles and walk to the concourse. When heavy rain hit the city, the parking lot gets heavily waterlogged. During the recent floods, the station couldn’t be used by commuters as the parking lot was severely inundated.
Another commuter, K. Sathish Kannan, who goes from Kaladipet to Thousand Lights or Meenambakkam, says commuters prefer metro because it’s faster and fairly affordable, but if they have to hunt for parking spaces in stations, they end up wasting their time. “Stations like Government Estate and Thousand Lights are used by hundreds of officer-goers. But the parking lots here are small and get filled up quickly. Commuters can’t keep searching for vacant space when they have to rush to work,” he adds.
While residents are worried over deaths due to diarrhoea in Vijayawada, officials still grapple to find the root cause. Contaminated drinking water supplied by VMC officials is the reason, insist people in the affected areas, but officials insist that efforts are on to identify the disease and that those with symptoms other than diarrhoea too are visiting the health camps.