Thiruvananthapuram: Parking fees at Central up

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Parking on the railway premises at the central station here is proving costly for hundreds of vehicle owners and motorists arriving at the station. The railway authorities have hiked the parking fee to raise the revenue and reduce the number of vehicles arriving at the station, which is one of the busiest in the state.

The railway authorities are charging Rs 25 for four-wheelers/ three-wheelers for two hours, Rs 40 for 8 hours and Rs 60 for 24 hours.  

The closure of the corporation-owned parking lot nearby has come as a huge blow to hundreds of motorists arriving at the railway station.

J. Liyons, secretary of Friends on Rails, said that they had hiked the parking rates after tying up with the Kudumbashree Mission for managing the parking lot.
“The parking fee fixed by the railway authorities is very high compared to that fixed by the city corporation. Nobody is intervening in the matter and we have decided to file a complaint at the consumer court,” he said.

A railway official said that the parking fee was being fixed centrally by the Indian Railways depending on the category of the station. “The Thiruvananthapuram station comes under non-suburban group 1 category and the station has no role in fixing the rates. We roped in the Kudumbashree and they give 70 percent of the income. Interestingly, even after hiking the parking fee, the number of vehicles coming to the premises hasn’t come down,” said the official.

Chalai ward councillor S.K.P. Ramesh said that the multi-level parking lot project hadn’t taken off. “The parking project has been approved and funds are readily available but it’s being delayed unnecessarily,” he said.