Railway passengers in England will be benefiting from £15m worth of financing announced by the government, to remodel the car parking facilities at rail stations across the country.
The funding, provided by Network Rail, the Department for Transport and the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC), is available for multiple car park projects, including single and multi-decked car parking extensions at four stations where there exists a huge demand for car parking over and above their existing facilities.
The rail minister, Norman Baker, said, ‘This is good news for commuters, and good news for the railway. Adding capacity to heavily used station car parks makes it more likely people will park the car and take the train rather than try to drive the whole way. This initiative fits in well with the work we are doing to make the door to door journey smoother and lower in carbon.’
Robin Gisby, managing director for network operations at Network Rail, a UK-based company that owns and operates most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain, said, ‘This is a great example of the rail industry working together to improve the passenger experience without increasing the burden on the taxpayer. We have now allocated almost £100m towards projects, which will improve passengers’ experience of travelling by rail and help us deliver a better value for money railway.’
Alec McTavish, the director of policy and planning at the Association of Train Operating Companies, said, ‘The whole industry is committed to working together more effectively to deliver a better railway for passengers and a more efficient railway for taxpayers.’
