RailEnquiry

The Railway Passengers Association (RPA) has sought the immediate withdrawal of the hike in parking fee for vehicles at the parking area of railway stations.RPA secretary Paravur Sajeeb said the new rates were intended to fleece those coming to railway stations in vehicles.This was not the time when fresh contracts for parking areas are entered into. Therefore Railways do not stand to benefit from the hike.The hike seemed to benefit parking contractors more, he said.A second-class season ticket from Kollam to Thiruvananthapuram came at Rs.205, but, the monthly parking fare for a two-wheeler was Rs.200. The fee was Rs.80 till now. In some cases, the parking fee exceeded the ticket fare. This cannot be justified, he said.Earlier the parking fee for a two wheeler for two hours was Rs.3. This had been hiked to Rs.5. Mr. Sajeeb said the long-pending demand of commuters to revise the train timings on the Kollam-Punalur section had been ignored by Railway.He said the RPA would launch a strong agitation against the hike.