Bad News!!

[whole diary]

[Zoe]

The idea of a parkway station is that you can drive there and park and take the train.  If it's going to cost to park there some people will just drive and not take the train or drive to a less suitable station that has free parking.

[vacman]

The idea of a parkway station is that you can drive there and park and take the train.  If it's going to cost to park there some people will just drive and not take the train or drive to a less suitable station that has free parking.

Maybe so, but Bodmin Parkway car park is full of car sharers cars by 0800 so people actually catching a train can't park!

[Chris from Nailsea]

Would a system whereby you pay ^5 to park, and upon buying a National Rail ticket can retrieve ^4 back or something depending on the cost of the ticket, not be more suitable?

Excellent suggestion, devon_metro!  Parking for those actually travelling by train is encouraged: parking for those taking the mickey by parking at the station but then driving anyway (by car sharing) is discouraged.

Agreed, vacman: we still have a problem with parking at Nailsea - if people experience problems parking at the station, what encouragement is there for them to travel by train?  I'm sure many take the view that they might as well drive all the way into Bristol.

[Ollie]

I think there would be too much admin in that.

Maybe it should just be, if you buy a season ticket you can purchase an add on for car parking at the origin station that works out to something like a ^1 per working day.

[devonian]

I think there would be too much admin in that.

Maybe it should just be, if you buy a season ticket you can purchase an add on for car parking at the origin station that works out to something like a ^1 per working day.

But then that only benefits season ticket holders and is likely to discourage less regular users. Many supermarkets run a similar system to that suggested so there are examples out there that can be copied. The admin side of it is of course a problem, especially at unmanned stations or outside staffing hours. To overcome that, a pay on exit scheme could easily be implemented by where those with a rail ticket insert it into the machine first (on platform if need be) and only pay a pound. Those without pay ^5.

[thetrout]

What about when you buy a ticket you request a car park coupon if you are actually travelling on a train.

Anyone else who is not travelling should pay to park

I guess though that people will just buy a ticket to the next station which for example, Liskeard - Coombe a massive ^1.80 Peak Time

[gaf71]

The season ticket idea from ollie is good, then walk up passengers could get a refund on their parking when buying tickets. Would be quite simple to implement.

[signalandtelegraph]

Liskeard to Plymouth is ^8 return during the morning peak for a journey of just under 25 mins. Add to this a couple of pounds parking and yes, its a total rip off.

and a weekly season is about ^25 for a journey that is a nightmare by car! all FGW^▸ (First Great Western) stations on the mainline charge ^2 peak parking and ^1.20 off-peak not bank braking but will help to the upkeep of the car parks!

Er, not quite,Tiverton Parkway is ^4 and ^2 and I suspect that there is a lot of variation depending on what FGW are in competition with locally i.e NCP,  council run car parks etc.

[smokey]

Liskeard to Plymouth is ^8 return during the morning peak for a journey of just under 25 mins. Add to this a couple of pounds parking and yes, its a total rip off.

and a weekly season is about ^25 for a journey that is a nightmare by car! all FGW^▸ (First Great Western) stations on the mainline charge ^2 peak parking and ^1.20 off-peak not bank braking but will help to the upkeep of the car parks!

Er, not quite,Tiverton Parkway is ^4 and ^2 and I suspect that there is a lot of variation depending on what FGW are in competition with locally i.e NCP,  council run car parks etc.

Well to Park in Plymouth it's a very nice ^6.50 per day.


BUT FGW don't do there homework, Wessex Trains started to charge for Car Parking at Bodmin Parkway and got in TROUBLE as there's seems to be an Agreement that Parking at Bodmin Parkway is FREE.
So anyone paying too park at Bodmin, it might be worthwlhile keeping your parking tickets.

[vacman]

I think you'll find the free parking was part of the funding that Wessex got for the refurbishment, probably expired when Wessex franchise expired! Richard B should know...... over to you richard

[RichardB]

I think you'll find the free parking was part of the funding that Wessex got for the refurbishment, probably expired when Wessex franchise expired! Richard B should know...... over to you richard

You've hit the nail on the head, Vacman.  As I understood it, it was always an informal agrement anyway.

[Chris from Nailsea]

As the car parks are railway property,

Not necessarily: the car park at Nailsea & Backwell station, for example, is owned by the local council.

[Tim]

The idea of a parkway station is that you can drive there and park and take the train.  If it's going to cost to park there some people will just drive and not take the train or drive to a less suitable station that has free parking.

Maybe so, but Bodmin Parkway car park is full of car sharers cars by 0800 so people actually catching a train can't park!

Lets looks at teh bigger picture here. If the presence of the parkway station encourages car-sharers to park there then that is great.  Car-sharing is great for congestion and the environment.   there is only a problem if rail passengers have nowhere to park but surely the solution is to increase the number of spaces rather than go down a route that discourages car-sharing.  ICRC, some of the parkway car-parks were (part) funded by council money anyway so couldn't the extensions come out of the council's "tackling congestion by encoyraging car-sharing budget"

[Btline]

Chiltern Railways encourage car sharing, by allowing FREE parking if 3 rail users use one car.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Perhaps an agreement could be sought between the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company) and local authority concerned, especially if the car park is primarily for the use of the station.

there is only a problem if rail passengers have nowhere to park but surely the solution is to increase the number of spaces

Interestingly, the station car park at Nailsea & Backwell is right next to the station - which is in turn half way between the centres of Nailsea and Backwell.  In theory, the only people who would park there are those catching trains.  However, we found that when the TOC started charging for parking at Yatton, many commuters merely drove on to Nailsea and parked there, free (and saved themselves the intermediate train fare!).  Also, for more years than I care to remember, the local council have been trying to expand the car park: the problem is, it's surrounded by privately owned land, so the council can't just 'wave a magic wand' to create more spaces.

Sorry if this seems negative: it's certainly not - I'm just pointing out the very practical problems with what you have suggested.

Chris