The distance from the main road to the ticket counter at Taramani MRTS is tediously long. As the authorised parking lot is located close to this road, even motorists are not spared the long trek to the platform. Until recently, some motorists found a way out of this problem — unscrupulously. They would park their vehicles at the entrance of the MRTS building, from where the ticket counter and the platform are only a few facile steps away.
Recently, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) cracked down on the practice of motorists parking their vehicles at unauthorised sections of the station and, as part of the exercise, it tied ropes around the open spaces at the entrance, making them out of bounds for such motorists.
To ensure they get the message right, RPF has also posted warnings on the walls around these spaces that offenders will incur a hefty fine.
“A two-wheeler was stolen from the place recently,” said an autorickshaw driver while appreciating the move.
But, the ropes did not last long. When The Hindu photographer went to the spot to get a picture of the ropes tied around the spaces, they were missing.
In the absence of sufficient staff, regulating unauthorised parking of vehicles is a challenge at stations, especially at Taramani, which is quite expansive.
The autorickshaw drivers functioning from inside the station premises pay ₹4,500 every six months for using the space.
Private vans and company buses that ferry employees from the station to their companies on Rajiv Gandhi Salai are required to leave the premises, but some of them overstay.
The space behind the ticket counter is also occupied by many four-wheelers and this again, is an unauthorised parking area.
‘Shift ticket counter’
Many commuters want the ticket counter to be shifted to the entrance where the autorickshaws are parked. Deserted and sprawling, the inside of the Taramani station seems to induce agoraphobia in some commuters. The walk from the entrance to the ticket counter is sufficiently long to trigger this response in them. RPF has reportedly made many representations to the Southern Railway to shift the ticket counter to the other entrance.
According to Gunjan Kumar, an RPF personnel, shifting the ticket counter will check unauthorised parking to some extent as well as enhance safety at the station.
“If the ticket counter is shifted we plan to close the second entrance to the station. With limited staff it becomes difficult to patrol the vast stretch of the station, so we have been closing the entry and exit points at various stations,” said the personnel.
V. Shankar Rao, a regular commuter and a resident of Perungudi, has another suggestion.
“Recently, Southern Railway called for a tender for ticket-vending machines at various stations including Taramani. The authorities must have these machines placed at the first entrance to the station.”