Parking Fees to be introduced at Patchway

[madhattie]

From the Bristol Evening Post

RAIL users are furious that free parking will be stopped at Patchway station when charges are introduced later this year.

Operator First Great Western (FGW) plans to bring in a ú3-a-day fee from September.

But those against the move said it could lead to fewer people travelling by train as the cost would become too great, especially if they used the service every day to go to work.

Opponents said passengers would be tempted to go back to their cars rather than pay up, increasing congestion on already busy roads.

They say those continuing to use the service might look for other places to park and leave their vehicles on local roads instead, causing problems to residents.

The Friends of Patchway Station said the fee did little to encourage greater use of the station and if numbers of passengers fell, could threaten further improvements to the service.

Brian Hewitt, chairman of the group, said: "This has taken us completely by surprise.

"We have repeatedly asked First Great Western to provide more services from Patchway and make using the station and catching the train more attractive.

"I cannot see how the introduction of parking charges helps to meet these goals. If anything, it would be a setback and cause many more problems."

The decision by FGW comes six months after the operator increased parking charges at stations in the Bristol area which it operates.

It included putting up the daily charge at Parkway by more than a third, from ú5 a day to ú6.90, while the fee at Yate more than doubled from ú1 to ú2.10.

Stoke Gifford councillor Justin Howells said: "The removal of free parking will discourage commuters' use of Patchway station.

"When faced with having to fork out for both parking and the train ticket, many people will simply decide to drive straight to their destination, particularly if it is in the Bristol area.

His colleague Keith Cranney said: "Whopping parking charges will also encourage remaining commuters to park in nearby residential streets so they can escape paying, which will impact on local residents who already have concerns about parking."

No one from First Great Western was available for comment on the new charges yesterday.

[Robin Summerhill]

Whilst I can see FGW's point of view in wanting to maximise their income from their assets, the matter of "supply and demand" also needs to be taken into account.

Parking charges at stations usually vary depending on the availability of alternative parking sources. Usually when I go to central London I drive to Hayes & Harlington, park up and take the train in from there. The parking charges at Hayes are very reasonable compared to those you often see (I think it was ú2 per day late last year), and the reason is simply that there is plenty of free on-street parking close at hand.

I haven't been to Patchway station since the days when you could see 42xx 2-8-0s going through on on coal trains , so I don't know what the situation is these days. However, if there are no parking restrictions to speak of on adjacent roads, you will see an increase in on street parking as sure as the sun will rise in the morning.

[frame69]

Station road which runs parallel with the line is almost unihabited so parking should'nt be a problem.
Frame.

[mastermuddle]

Come to yatton and see the cars parked in the steets near the station the parking fee is ú2-10p then cheaper later in the day.never mind about fgw getting maximum returns on their assets after all they are part of rip off britain like the oil comps m&s in fact all of british business is at this time partaking in the great british rip off.

[tonyperks]

Being Negative here but its probably thier way of shutting the station:

introduce parking to discourage people to park/use the station then say it doesnt pay..................

I'm pretty sure they have taken away the pay for parking at yate now i dont recall seeing a meter there last time i wss there?

[Robin Summerhill]

never mind about fgw getting maximum returns on their assets after all they are part of rip off britain like the oil comps m&s in fact all of british business is at this time partaking in the great british rip off.

Aha - the old "they're only in it for the money" argument.

Everybody is "in it for the money," including everybody that works for a living. Money keeps you and me and M&S and FGW nd every other company going.

Just playing devil's advocate for a minute, drive into the vast majority of council car parks and you have to pay to park. If you want to park in a town or city centre you usually have to feed a meter or pay at a machine. If you are off on holiday, you pay to park at the airport. Everybody accepts it.

Why in principle should railway stations be any different?

[Robin Summerhill]

Being Negative here but its probably thier way of shutting the station:

introduce parking to discourage people to park/use the station then say it doesnt pay..................

These two statements don't hang together.

As I said in an earlier post on this topic, if there is free on-street parking adjacent to Patchway station (and others have said there is), then there will be an increae in on-street parking.

How will this discourage people from using the stataion?

[nickt]

I seem to recall a long while ago that FGW initialy introduced parking charges to a number of lesser stations (Keynsham/Clevedon etc) that were originaly free, I cant remember now what the figure was per day, but, after a lot of public protestations the daily parking fee was significantly reduced.

If you want to see excessive, try btm or Bath spa ú 7 - 8 per day before you have even gone anywhere.

I think and I am sure some of you will agree, If you have a car park eg by a railway station and it also happens to be near shops etc which is free to park, it wont be empty for long. Whereas if you have a nominal fee then it is more likely to be used by the people it is intended for and you are not going to drive around side streets looking for parking (and hoping car will be there when you get back) and hope you havent missed your train.

[nickt]

Another thought. Is there a "season ticket" for car parking at reduced rate for regular commuters. I agree that ú2-ú3 a day aint earth shattering amount but over period of time it amounts to a good sized wedge.

[Roger]

On a recent trip to London we parked at Hayes and Harlington where a day's parking costs ú2.90 prior to 10.00 and ú1.50 after 10.00. With Hayes in Zone 6 for a Travel Card (ú7.50 off peak) it is an economical way to visit London.

[Robin Summerhill]

On a recent trip to London we parked at Hayes and Harlington where a day's parking costs ú2.90 prior to 10.00 and ú1.50 after 10.00. With Hayes in Zone 6 for a Travel Card (ú7.50 off peak) it is an economical way to visit London.

I made that very point on a recent post on another thread. There is also a fair amount of free on-street parking in the area, especially at weekends when the adjacent businesses are closed.

It is certainly an economical way to visit London and, if you are a smoker, there is the other advantage that you can have a fag during the majority of the journey!

[stopblock]

Any increase of street parking will inflame residents of little stoke even more as they already suffer with staff who work for wessex parking in nearby streets.Station rd is far from practicle for parking as it isnt wide enough and with traffic to and from the nearby tip and the builders yard makes it a busy road. No doubt south glos council have a lot of yellow paint they wish to get rid of and shall soon be painting yellow lines alone stoke lane.

[stationcat]

It should remembered that rail fares in this country are the highest in Europe. The train operators and Network rail enjoy massive subsidies from the tax payer whilst paying directors huge salaries plus obscene bonuses. When fgw began ripping off passengers with parking fees the number of cars parking in residential areas around Nailsea & Backwell was quite noticeable, it's high time this grubby little bus company learned the meaning of the word "enough".
But what it all boils down to is that privatised railway in this country simply cannot stand on thier own two feet without sucking billions of pounds in support out of the tax payer. Sooner or later someone will wake up to the fact that the whole show can be run cheaper without the likes of fgw and the parasitic quango's such as OFFRAIL and ATOC.

[g4mby]

I'm pretty sure they have taken away the pay for parking at yate now i dont recall seeing a meter there last time i wss there?

The ticket machine for car parking is now located near the ticket booth.

There certainly seems to be less cars parked in Yate station car park now. Many people are now leaving their cars on the other side of the road in Westleigh Close, along Station Road or in Longs Drive.

[Rich_Eason]

Surely if you've driven to Patchway to save parking charges you drive to Abbey Wood where the parking is free, 'observed by cctv' and plenty more spaces...