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A week after survey, Chandigarh railway station traffic chaos persists
Traffic congestion continues to plague the station, with long CTU buses struggling to negotiate the sharp U-turn towards Madhya Marg, the problem is worsened by auto-rickshaws and cabs
A week after railway officials, senior Chandigarh police officers and a team from the Chandigarh road safety society (CRSS) conducted a joint survey to decongest the road outside Chandigarh railway station following MP Manish Tewari’s tweet, little has changed on the ground except for the deployment of traffic police personnel.
Traffic congestion continues to plague the station, with long CTU buses struggling to negotiate the sharp U-turn towards Madhya Marg. The problem is worsened by auto-rickshaws and cabs parked illegally near the turning point, leaving little room for buses to manoeuvre and resulting in frequent traffic snarls.
Traffic police have launched an enforcement drive and are issuing challans to violators. “We have impounded around half a dozen auto-rickshaws since this morning,” a traffic policeman posted at the site said on Monday afternoon. Officials said challans are being issued not only for illegal parking but also for missing or invalid vehicle documents.
Despite the crackdown, auto-rickshaw and cab drivers continued to wait for passengers opposite the railway station, ignoring the no parking barricades. Around 2 pm, an auto-rickshaw carrying passengers blocked a CTU bus attempting to take a U-turn, triggering a brief altercation between the two drivers before traffic police intervened and checked the auto driver’s documents.
The designated CTU bus stop has also turned into an unofficial parking area. Cabs, auto-rickshaws and even two-wheelers were seen entering and parking inside the bus bay while CTU buses were simultaneously entering and exiting, creating a potential accident hazard. The unpaved portion of the bus stop further adds to commuters’ woes, with loose soil generating thick dust clouds whenever vehicles pass.
Railway authorities are planning to widen the existing bus stop to accommodate more buses. However, the move is unlikely to resolve the bottleneck as buses will still have to negotiate the congested U-turn immediately outside the station before proceeding towards Madhya Marg.
Senior divisional commercial manager (DCM), Ambala division, Yashanjit Singh, said the primary cause of congestion is the large number of auto-rickshaws and cabs waiting outside the station for passengers. He said the traffic police are examining the feasibility of shifting the CTU bus U-turn about 100 metres ahead to provide buses with a wider turning radius.
However, the proposal faces practical challenges, as the road towards Dariya village is comparatively narrower due to illegal parking by cabs and auto-rickshaws, truck movement, and multiple entry roads leading to the village’s residential and market areas. Singh said another exit from the railway station will soon be operational to improve passenger movement.
He added that the station witnesses its heaviest rush between 2.45 pm and 3.30 pm, when nearly five major trains arrive within a short span, resulting in a surge of boarding and deboarding passengers. RPF personnel, GRP officials and marshals have been deployed during peak hours to ensure passenger safety and smooth movement.
Singh indicated that another joint survey of the station and its surrounding roads may be conducted within the next few days to reassess traffic management measures.
BOX:
Railway plans Kalagram access
road to decongest station entry
Railway authorities have also written to the director general of police, Chandigarh, seeking the possibility of providing an access road from the Kalagram side to connect directly to the station’s Panchkula side. The proposal aims to divert a section of passengers approaching from Chandigarh towards the comparatively less congested Panchkula side. At present, motorists have to take a detour via the Housing Board traffic lights to reach the Panchkula entrance.
