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Railways to replicate Chandigarh parking model in Ambala Cantonment
The pick-and-drop system was introduced in Chandigarh in September primarily to counter traffic congestion outside the railway station during the arrival of trains
Amid hue and cry over the pick-and-drop parking system at Chandigarh railway station, Ambala Railway Division has also decided to replicate the model at Ambala Cantonment railway station, officials said on Thursday.
The new system was introduced in the union territory in September primarily to counter traffic congestion outside the railway station during the arrival of trains.
Under it, tokens are being handed over to drivers at a kiosk set up at the entrance of pick-and-drop lane and collected at the exit gate, where boom barriers are installed.
The railways introduced the free pick-and-drop facility only for private or non-commercial vehicles, while it cost ₹30 for the first six minutes for commercial vehicles.
After the six-minute period, drivers from both the categories are being charged ₹50 up to 15 minutes and ₹200 for keeping the vehicle parked between 15-30 minutes.
However, weeks into getting operations, the system caught sharp criticism from the residents and even the administration, after traffic snarls were witnessed on the road leading to the junction.
Following the demands to increase the time slot, the railway division called a review meeting this month and again on Wednesday, where senior officials ruled-out on changing the time slot, but decided to have fully-fenced separate lanes for private and commercial vehicles to streamline the movement of vehicles.
On the Ambala parking, senior divisional commercial manager (Sr. DCM) Hari Mohan said the boom barrier, pick-and-drop and access control will be replicated here too and a report is being prepared.
Officials’ privy of the development said at Ambala there is ample space with the railways in comparison to Chandigarh, lanes are already marked here, but there is shortage of parking space.
It has also been learnt that a team from Ambala also spent a couple of days at New Delhi railway station to understand the pick-and-drop system, where the time slot is eight minutes and commuters have to cover a huge distance, as compared to Chandigarh or Ambala.
Speaking to HT, divisional railway manager (DRM) Mandeep Singh Bhatia said, “The change in system at Chandigarh would be done this weekend and I hope this will stabilize the problems being faced by commuters. We will gain experience out of it and apply the system here too.”
Spread across nearly four kilometers with a large rail depot, the Ambala station is a major junction in North India, where over 200 passenger trains halt at 8 platforms.
Currently, no official figures on the number of footfalls are available, but it is assessed that over 20,000 passengers board or de-board trains here daily.
However, it will be a challenge to manage the traffic outside the station on NH-44 that also has a bus stand opposite, if the new system is implemented here.
