At some Chennai Metro Rail stations, long queues at parking lots have become commonplace, causing inconvenience to commuters.

Gaps in last-mile connectivity have forced a significant number of commuters to use their vehicles to reach the Metro stations, a few of which, including the ones at Koyambedu, Thirumangalam, Airport, and Alandur, witnessing frequent congestion at the parking lots.

“It takes sometime for the payment machine at the parking lot at the stations to register credentials of the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC). This leads to vehicles forming a line, particularly during the peak hours,” Manoharan Nambiar, a resident of Thirumangalam, said.

‘Stuck in queue’

“On quite a few occasions, I had been stuck in the queue [at the Thirumangalam Metro station]. I hope the authorities concerned would provide additional machines to ease congestion,” Mr. Manoharan added.

Some of the commuters complain that payment machines at the stations do not register the time of entry. Even worse, at times, the machines show vehicles as parked in the lots even after they have exited.

‘Steps taken’

According to officials of the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), these issues were reported only recently, and steps have already been taken to resolve them. “The payment machines have a SIM card, which encountered issues related to data synchronisation. We have already raised the issue with SBI and Airtel, and it will be resolved in a few days,” an official said.

Shortage of manpower

Meanwhile, sources said said that there was a shortage of manpower to address parking-related issues.

They urged the Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) to hire more staff to expeditiously fix these recurring issues.