Title - Arriving soon: Enhanced parking at railway station

The Railways have begun working on a project to ease parking woes at New Delhi railway station. Parking capacity on the Ajmeri Gate side - with a daily footfall of 2.8 lakh passengers every day will go up from 500 cars now to 800 once the project is executed. The railways are adding 100x75 ft area to the existing 100x100 ft parking slot. Tenders have been invited and the plan will be executed in three months at a cost of R1 crore. Anurag Sachan, divisional railway manager (DRM) of Northern Railway (Delhi), said, "In front of platform number 16, we have a premium parking lot for 200 cars. It will have new, dedicated entry and exit points. Automated machines will provide parking slips. A display board will inform about space left. It will accommodate 300 cars after revamp." "Earlier, vehicles headed to the premium lot used to be routed through the congested general parking. If cars headed to the premium parking area face congestion and people have to fight for space, the whole concept of premium parking stands defeated," he said. A pre-paid booking counter for taxis and auto-rickshaws will be created between the foot-over bridges near the platforms. "The existing pre-paid booth are too far from platforms. The space will be converted into a general parking area for 200 cars," the DRM said. "We're creating a holding capacity for 60 taxis and 100 auto-rickshaws, since all of them will not be using the pre-paid booking service," he said. The new booth will have two rows for taxis and three rows for autos. The current functional general parking for 300 cars and 1,000 two-wheelers at the drop-off area and the bus parking at the outskirts of the station will remain as they are. The station has 16 platforms and handles 300 trains every day. There will be a foot-over bridge, which will take passengers directly from the railway station to the airport Metro station bypassing crowds of people and vehicles. Overall, there will be four dedicated lanes for pedestrians, taxis and autos to avoid accidents. "Marshals - like the one seen at airports - will also be deputed. Joint commissioner of Delhi Police (traffic), Satyendra Garg has appreciated the plan," said Sachan.