Car park tickets

[RedPostJunc]

Apologies if this has been covered before, I did a search but could not find anything relevant.

Arriving at a South Western Railway station recently, I found that there are no ticket machines in the car park, but there was a notice advising to buy a ticket from the ticket machine on the platform. I went to the only ticket machine, but it was out of order. Why do small stations only have one ticket machine?

So, I went to the ticket office and was told that the ticket office could not sell car park tickets, as the car park was "nothing to do with us". Really? The only reason that car park exists is for intending train passengers to park their cars, there is nothing else nearby that would justify a car park. Expanding that argument, would the ticket office tell me they cannot sell me a ticket for a Great Western Train, because they are a different company? In effect, the ticket office (which, apparently, is under threat of closure) is telling me that the machine on the platform can provide me with a better service than the ticket office can.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm sure the ticket office staff would be more than happy to sell me a car park ticket if their system allowed it, it must be frustrating for them to have to tell passengers that they cannot sell car park tickets.

The ticket office advised me to use the telephone service provided by the car park operator. My only previous experience of this was when I arrived at Basingstoke station on a Sunday and didn't have time to buy a car park ticket (Those who know Basingstoke will understand that involves walking from the car park to the ticket machine, back to the car park with a car parking ticket, back to the station, going under the station to get to the main entrance and finally getting to the platform). I attempted buying a ticket using my phone on the train. However, I kept losing signal part way through the transaction and had to start again. Also, my car registration includes, D, B, 5 and 9 and the voice recognition system on the telephone service kept getting my car registration wrong. It was somewhere between Woking and Surbiton that I finally completed my purchase. A simple improvement would be for the voice recognition system to recognise the phonetic alphabet.

 

[Western 52]

In my view, parking at stations should be free for those travelling by train, and those having business at the station, such as buying advance tickets. The high cost of parking must put a lot of people off using the train. I know at some stations there may be issues controlling this, especially where there are no staff, but I'm sure there's technology to resolve this these days. A pub near here has car park ticket machines which give a voucher which can be redeemed when ordering at the bar. Something similar at stations maybe. Possibly via a phone app?

 

[Kite159]

It's because SWR decided to bring in the car park parasite known as APCOA with their CCTV 'Gotcha' cameras (rather than SWT who used CP Plus which at least patrolled the car park to ensure vehicles were parked correctly etc). All the ANPR cameras do is ensure passengers have paid, even if someone arrives to pick up/drop off someone and the train gets delayed pushing them over the hidden away (deep on a sign) 20 minute parking allowed.

More of an annoyance if you want to park for longer than a single day as you are forced to use the app/phone, which for some more elderly passengers is a step too far.

For some rural car parks it should be free parking (maybe with a car park split with a cheap area for overnight stays) yes there might be a tiny number of people who abuse the parking but for some stations (ie Battlebridge on the Southminster line, or Haddiscoe (Norwich - Lowestoft line) the cost of maintaining the equipment must outweigh the income.

For those urban stations, have a system which is controlled by barriers, with free parking available for genuine rail passengers (maybe also display a code on the platform). Regular passengers soon find the free parking areas away from the station.

 

[eMeS]

Reminds me of when I got stung at the car park at Arlesey (ECML), northwards bound. I paid on arrival, and simply accepted the ticket from the machine. A few days later I received a demand for a £100 fine for not paying the parking fee. I then realised that the splodgy mess in the middle of my ticket was meant to be my car's registration number - totally unrecognisable. I'm afraid that I paid the reduced fine for paying up quickly, and will never go there again.

 

[Western Sunset]

It's because SWR decided to bring in the car park parasite known as APCOA with their CCTV 'Gotcha' cameras (rather than SWT who used CP Plus which at least patrolled the car park to ensure vehicles were parked correctly etc). All the ANPR cameras do is ensure passengers have paid, even if someone arrives to pick up/drop off someone and the train gets delayed pushing them over the hidden away (deep on a sign) 20 minute parking allowed.

I had to pick up one of my daughters from Salisbury station yesterday afternoon. Fortunately, her train was only a few minutes late, but by the time I'd arrived and the time I left, I was getting close to the 20 minutes free allowance.

 

[Haywain]

In my view, parking at stations should be free for those travelling by train,

How will this work when the cheapest parking in a town is obtained by parking all day and buying a very cheap train ticket?

and those having business at the station, such as buying advance tickets.

Many stations have short term parking for exactly this reason.

 

[Gathursty]

How will this work when the cheapest parking in a town is obtained by parking all day and buying a very cheap train ticket?

Many stations have short term parking for exactly this reason.

Parking at Park & Ride stations should be free. Parking at Central stations should be charged. Rural stations should all be free. Other stations on a case by case basis.

 

[Horizon22]

Parking at Park & Ride stations should be free. Parking at Central stations should be charged. Rural stations should all be free. Other stations on a case by case basis.

I agree it's very much a case-by-case basis. Many urban and central stations are surrounded by roads that either a) charge, or b) you cannot park on as they are in a resident permit zone. It would be disproportionate for the railway station parking to then be free or significantly below the local value of parking, as then it will be filled up with people with no railway business.

That being said through Covid there was a lot of spare parking available at stations previously filled to the brim (e.g. London & SE commuter stations); I don't know if that has rebounded much or whether prices have have decreased to balance the supply and demand.

 

[DarloRich]

So, I went to the ticket office and was told that the ticket office could not sell car park tickets, as the car park was "nothing to do with us".

Correct: the train company has contracted out the operaration of the car park to a third party

 

[Mojo]

Reminds me of when I got stung at the car park at Arlesey (ECML), northwards bound. I paid on arrival, and simply accepted the ticket from the machine. A few days later I received a demand for a £100 fine for not paying the parking fee. I then realised that the splodgy mess in the middle of my ticket was meant to be my car's registration number - totally unrecognisable. I'm afraid that I paid the reduced fine for paying up quickly, and will never go there again.

A colleague of mine also got done at Arlesey a few weeks ago. There are two car parks on either side of the line that both claim to be the station car park, one on the east side of the line that is run by Apcoa (and I believe the “official” car park) and another on the west side of the line run by Britannia parking; he had ended up paying the wrong company and got a Penalty!

 

[Gathursty]

I'm not sure how I feel about station car parks being contracted out to someone else but I imagine for the TOC it's cheaper and less hassle letting someone else deal with all the problems car parks bring. It's still rather awkward to hear such lines like the car park at the station isn't the station's responsibility. I know hotels, service stations and other places have a similar model so it's not just railways.

 

[The exile]

I'm not sure how I feel about station car parks being contracted out to someone else but I imagine for the TOC it's cheaper and less hassle letting someone else deal with all the problems car parks bring. It's still rather awkward to hear such lines like the car park at the station isn't the station's responsibility. I know hotels, service stations and other places have a similar model so it's not just railways.

Contracting out of service provision should not remove one iota of responsibility from the company contracting out that service (in “public facing” situations at least)

 

[Halwynd]

Companies that outsource don't usually care much about their customers, as illustrated by the OP's story

 

[The exile]

Companies that outsource don't usually care much about their customers, as illustrated by the OP's story

About time they were forced to, then!

 

[Rescars]

My local station installed metered parking in March 2020. Perfectly timed for lockdown! I rather doubt if this has generated any profit so far. It has however discouraged my return to rail travel. Judging by the number of empty spaces I think I am not alone. All in all aa bit of an own goal really!

 

[Scott1]

Slightly off topic, but I'm always mystified by people who belive parking should be free. The provision costs a lot of money, asphalt, drainage, lighting, lining, cleaning and maintaining, and the loss of space that could generate revenue as a property.

Why should people who don't use the car park subsidise it for the people that do? If I get the bus to the train station car drivers don't give me a subsidy, yet it is almost expected that parking should be, since 'free parking' really means paid for through the cost of your product, be it a train ticket or a loaf of bread in Sainsbury's.

 

[Hadders]

The car park at my local station is definitely getting busier. So much so that the car park is being converted to a multi-storey.

I'l love it if all station car parking was free but it simply won't happen as the scope for abuse by non rauilway users is huge.

 

[Rescars]

Oh to have the option of catching a bus to the station!

 

[Tallguy]

Chiltern use Apcoa. I refuse to use the 20 min pick up bays at High Wycombe as they are on ANPR cameras. I wait in the drop off zone which doesn’t have cameras. If anyone gets a ‘parking ticket’ which is actually a speculative invoice I suggest seeking assistance at pepipoo.co.uk who may be able to help you get the ‘ticket’ cancelled.

 

[Dr Hoo]

Even in the wilds of the Peak District National Park we now have app-based parking at Hope Valley stations (rather than buying paper tickets from a machine).

I am by no means a tech-lover but it really seems to be a piece of cake. Once set up it's a couple of taps on my phone to pay and it even seems to cope with dodgy signal strength. The app seems to be capable of knowing that I am probably at (say) Hope or Hathersage as applicable.

Obviously most station car park users tend to be at least semi-regulars, so having the app set up is worthwhile.

Parking at the local stations used to be free and thus over-filled with tourists rather than train passengers at weekends (to the extent that I had had to abort trips by rail and drive all the way instead). Now I can expect to get a space and Northern/DOR get more revenue. Win-win.

(I am nevertheless well aware that there is apparently a substantial hard core of RailUK Forums members who seem to be able to afford and drive a car but are apparently unable or unwilling to possess or use a mobile phone or make any financial transaction unless it is in cash.)

 

[eMeS]

Even in the wilds of the Peak District National Park we now have app-based parking at Hope Valley stations (rather than buying paper tickets from a machine).
...

But is the app the same as used elsewhere?
On a recent visit to me in Milton Keynes, my Blackpool based daughter found that the app on her phone didn't work in Milton Keynes. Downloading and installing the one for Milton Keynes took around 30 minutes. The benefit to me was that my grandson spent less time in the shops, and I saved a few pounds on presents for him!

 

[L401CJF]

I recently drove to Hooton (Merseyrail) for my commute to work.

The car park is operated by Cheshire West and Cheshire Council. Its a pull up to the barrier, ANPR scans your reg, gives you a ticket, and you pay at the machine before you go home (£1 per day) type car park.

I pulled up to the barrier only to find the machine which issues you the ticket was completely dead, so the barrier wouldn't raise and couldn't get into the car park.

At this point there was a bit of a queue forming behind me (it's quite busy as folk from the rural towns and villages nearby use it as their main station and gets pretty busy).

I reversed out and parked outside the ticket office to inform the staff that the car park wouldn't open up. She said its the councils carpark and nothing to do with them so I should contact the council!

I did not expect her to be able to anything immediately as like she said its Council operated, but did think with it being so busy and called "Hooton Station Car park" she might have a contact number and the ability to call somebody at the council to get it sorted.

Apparently not the case! I ended up having a rather spirited drive to Eastham Rake station where there is a big free car park. Luckily enough I had planned to get an earlier train from Hooton so managed to get the train 15mins later from Eastham Rake and was in time for work, but that isn't the point!

They have since put a sign up in the ticket office desk window saying the car park is council operated and has a phone number to call them on.

Just to add, Hooton also has 8 or so "Rail User Only" parking spaces which are free of charge, separate to the main car park, however these are usually full pretty early on.

 

[jfollows]

Slightly off topic, but I'm always mystified by people who belive parking should be free. The provision costs a lot of money, asphalt, drainage, lighting, lining, cleaning and maintaining, and the loss of space that could generate revenue as a property.

Why should people who don't use the car park subsidise it for the people that do? If I get the bus to the train station car drivers don't give me a subsidy, yet it is almost expected that parking should be, since 'free parking' really means paid for through the cost of your product, be it a train ticket or a loaf of bread in Sainsbury's.

I agree, however those of us who are old enough will remember when car parking usually was free at stations. In about 1978 we lived in Bollington and my father commuted by train to Manchester from Prestbury and when we inherited a second car he'd use it to drive to the station and park there for free. First come, first served, but at the time my memory is of him being able to park behind the down platform. Clearly since then car ownership and use went up significantly, so stations extended their car parks, at cost, and also used pricing as a way of controlling demand, not least for stations near town centres where if it were free people would park and not even use the railway.

I've come to change my thinking on hospital parking also - as long as there are good facilities and enough space I don't mind paying nowadays. Same sort of logic.

In all cases it's likely that an unpleasantly venal and money-grabbing company operates the car park, so it is good advice already given which I second for anyone who falls foul of their tactics to go to pepipoo.com to get advice.

 

[Dr Hoo]

But is the app the same as used elsewhere?
On a recent visit to me in Milton Keynes, my Blackpool based daughter found that the app on her phone didn't work in Milton Keynes. Downloading and installing the one for Milton Keynes took around 30 minutes. The benefit to me was that my grandson spent less time in the shops, and I saved a few pounds on presents for him!

The Hope Valley one happens to be 'RingGo'. I very rarely drive longer distances to need another one in, e.g. a town centre.

But plenty of people that I know have multiple apps on their phones. I did need to go to a retail park recently where it was necessary to pay to park even for a quick 'click and collect' pick-up of a bulky item. A local family member who was with me had the relevant app and tapped for the requisite 50 pence.

I think that the point is that you only have to get 'set up' occasionally and the extra app is then just waiting to be re-activated if necessary. Meanwhile it is a real faff to still carry around an obscure £3.40 in coins for four hours in a typical Peak District National Park site.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Downloading and installing the one for Milton Keynes took around 30 minutes.

What on earth is she using, a ZX81? 30 minutes? Really?

MK centre uses RingGo which is probably the most common one, by the way, plus there are also machines accepting cards (though not now I think cash).

I think that the point is that you only have to get 'set up' occasionally and the extra app is then just waiting to be re-activated if necessary. Meanwhile it is a real faff to still carry around an obscure £3.40 in coins for four hours in a typical Peak District National Park site.

The most annoying one was when Pen y Pass (for Snowdon) was about £12 but only accepted £1 coins and below. Who has twelve quid in change?

It's now prebooked, which as a very limited resource (when it was just P&D it was typically full by about 7am) makes a lot of sense.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Meanwhile it is a real faff to still carry around an obscure £3.40 in coins for four hours in a typical Peak District National Park site.

Bit of a scam if you've only got 4 x £1 coins if no change is then given.

The most annoying one was when Pen y Pass (for Snowdon) was about £12 but only accepted £1 coins and below. Who has twelve quid in change?

Quite! And I think the price there might even be a tad more now! (£25 for up to 12 hours?)

 

[eMeS]

What on earth is she using, a ZX81? 30 minutes? Really?

An Iphone - no idea what vintage.

 

[route101]

My local railway station is free to park though it has limited spaces, I did use a nearby council car park and its £1 a day. A lot of Scotrail stations are free.

 

[ricoblade]

Bit of a scam if you've only got 4 x £1 coins if no change is then given.

Quite! And I think the price there might even be a tad more now! (£25 for up to 12 hours?)

Yep - The one at Edale is like that but with the "tech" (lots of buttons) for you to input your reg no but cash only!

 

[Bletchleyite]

An Iphone - no idea what vintage.

I suspect a figure of speech - "it took me like half an hour of faffing" would be something most people would say if it took maybe 2-3 minutes.