Pune: The railway station administration has established a dedicated stand inside the station premises, where 10 Ola cabs will remain parked, which passengers can book by approaching a booking kiosk.

Officials with Pune Division of the Central Railway said the decision to set up a stand was taken as per the directives of Railway Board.
“As per the directives, we had floated open tenders to set up a stand for 10 cabs. Three firms had participated in the bidding process, which was won by Ola. Ola will have permission to park up to 10 cabs at the stand inside the premises and set up a kiosk from where they can be booked,” said Krishnakant Patil, Senior Divisional Railway Manager (DCM) Pune Rail Division.

“The move will bring relief to hundreds of passengers who choose app-based cabs. There is no doubt that cabs are in high demand for transport within the city. Since there was no arrangement for these cabs to stand inside the station, and they couldn’t possibly park on the roads outside the station, it was causing inconvenience to passengers, as well as service providers. This move will bring some degree of relief,” said Patil.

The commuters are likely to welcome the move, as until now, drivers of mobile-based cab service were reluctant to enter the Pune station premises as they were afraid that auto-rickshaw drivers may assault them as has happened in the past.

There have been incidents of auto-rickshaw drivers threatening cab drivers against picking up commuters from traffic hubs in the city, that leave the passengers with only two choices - submitting to the overcharging auto-rickshaws or walking out of the premises and then boarding the cab.

Passengers welcome this initiative by railway administration.