No end to chaos at Chandigarh Railway Station

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Chandigarh, January 12

Despite the railway authorities’ claims to streamlining the pick-and-drop system with certain changes, chaos and issue of high charges continue to trouble visitors.

During a visit to the railway station at 8:30 pm today, when the Kalka-New Delhi train arrived, chaotic scenes were witnessed at the station.

A large number of vehicles were seen parked at the pick-and-drop point. As usual, there was a traffic jam at the exit. The vehicles were moving slowly due to rush caused by frequent arguments between the parking attendants and visitors.

While talking to Chandigarh Tribune, Ram Nath Vashisht of Panchkula, said, “Around 8:30 pm, the premises of the station was fully packed with vehicles. I asked my relatives to get off as it was impossible to come out of the jam easily.”

Mohit Yadav, another visitor, said, “I picked my mother and it was all smooth. But as I reached the exit, there was a huge traffic jam. I was asked to shell out Rs 50, as it took me 13 minutes to reach the exit due to the jam.”

Once the free six-minute window for pick and drop is breached, people are charged Rs 50 up to 15 minutes. Thereafter, Rs 200 is levied on drivers. There is a separate parking for Rs 20, but most visitors are unaware of it.

It had been observed that vehicular movement remained smooth by and large around 6:30 pm, the departure time for Shatabdi. People could easily leave the premises within the free window.

System a success, will further work on it

}We recently did a seven-day survey of vehicles. It was found less than 15 per cent vehicles had to pay for pick and drop. The system is a success, but we will work on it and try to further bring down the number of vehicles paying for pick and drop.Rs

Mandeep Singh Bhatia, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM)