'Taunton Station Car Parking Needs More Spaces', says local MP (09/09/2009)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From aboutmyarea, Taunton:

Browne calls for extra car parking spaces at Taunton railway station

Taunton train station badly needs extra car parking spaces, according to local MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) Jeremy Browne. He has written to the Chief Executive of First Great Western asking for a plan to improve car parking provision.

Jeremy Browne said:

"The car park at Taunton train station is full to overflowing. Cars are routinely parked on the grass verges and outside the designated parking bays. Even after the extension to the car park, it is clearly not big enough to meet the demand for spaces.

Providing extra car parking at Taunton train station would actually be good for the environment and reduce congestion. We should be encouraging people to leave their cars behind and travel by train.

The Firepool development could provide an opportunity to further increase the car parking capacity at Taunton train station.

This problem is not going to disappear and it is actually likely to get even worse.

I hope First Great Western can take the lead in working with Taunton Deane Borough Council to tackle the shortage of parking spaces at Taunton train station."

[signalandtelegraph]

Would be good if the bus from the new Park & Ride at J25 of the M5 (when it opens) went via the station to take pressure off the car parks.

[Btline]

Are FGW^▸ (First Great Western) applying a decking system to their car parks?

Both Chiltern and London Midland have been expanding car parks left right and centre by adding decks!

[JayMac]

As an ex-pat Tauntonian I know and have lived in the area near Taunton station. There are numerous residential streets within 5 mins walking distance of the station with no parking restrictions/charges whatsoever. Save yourself a few bob and park there!
Okay, you won't feel the benefit of CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) coverage and you may upset the local residents.......

[Chris from Nailsea]

Well, as I've posted elsewhere previously, with a bit of joined-up thinking, a local bus company can provide a service that is timed to reduce the strain on the railway station car park.  See Nailsea & Backwell, for an excellent example -

[JayMac]

I just love the 'old school' layout of that timetable. AM and PM times and missing zeros for any times that cover the first 9 minutes of the hour. Very reminiscent of Bradshaw's....

[Btline]

Not sure about the missing zeros, but good to see AM and PM, and not the horrible European 24 hour clock!

[Mookiemoo]

Not sure about the missing zeros, but good to see AM and PM, and not the horrible European 24 hour clock!

Nooooooo!

I live in 24 hour clock!

If you "know it" then flight and train times are in built!

Also - its bloody difficult to misset the alarm - I always have the clock set to 24 hour - him indoors changed it........

So much easier to mistake 530pm for 530am than it is to mistake 1730 for 0530 - I worked from home that day!

[inspector_blakey]

Oh honestly Btline  Why on earth would you want to be able to tell the time unambiguously using four digits when you could mess about sticking in unnecessary dots and letters...?

The 24-hour clock has been standard on UK^▸ (United Kingdom) railways since the 1960s for that good reason. It may have originated in Europe but it's nothing to do with the EU^» (European Union - about)!

[Chris from Nailsea]

... when you could mess about sticking in unnecessary dots and letters...?

... or apostrophes! 

[Btline]

Oh honestly Btline  Why on earth would you want to be able to tell the time unambiguously using four digits when you could mess about sticking in unnecessary dots and letters...?

The 24-hour clock has been standard on UK^▸ (United Kingdom) railways since the 1960s for that good reason. It may have originated in Europe but it's nothing to do with the EU^» (European Union - about)!

For railways it is a good idea. I just prefer the am pm clock for ME perosnally.

[JayMac]

Perosnally?

[signalandtelegraph]

Well, as I've posted elsewhere previously, with a bit of joined-up thinking, a local bus company can provide a service that is timed to reduce the strain on the railway station car park.  See Nailsea & Backwell, for an excellent example -

Chris, looks like an excellent service for commuters but it's a local operator who has found himself a 'niche' (for want of a better expression.)  The big bus companies don't seem interested in providing a service like this unless they are heavily subsidised by the county councils. In the case of Digby and Sowton mentioned in the other thread, the bus is there for the Park and Ride service and not to connect with the trains. 

[willc]

That timetable is clearly the work of someone with a thing for early 1960s British Railways timetables - being a pretty accurate representation of the style - but it neatly omits one of the key causes of confusion, where a service starts its journey at 11 XX (am) and arrives somewhere at 11 XX (pm), to take an extreme example.

Use of the 24-hour clock is nothing new on these shores, British Empire military forces adopted the system during the First World War, for the same reason the railways finally did, to convey vital information clearly. I don't imagine that many of us actually spend our days going around talking about having a meeting at fifteen hundred but when it comes to organising public transport, or the military, it makes perfect sense.

[grahame]

That timetable is clearly the work of someone with a thing for early 1960s British Railways timetables - being a pretty accurate representation of the style - but it neatly omits one of the key causes of confusion, where a service starts its journey at 11 XX (am) and arrives somewhere at 11 XX (pm), to take an extreme example.

It's timetables like this that look really confusing under the am/ pm system:

ABC 6.15 6.45
DEF 6.30 7.01
GHI 6.40 7.11
JKL 6.50 7.21
MNO 6.57 7.27