‘Incredible’ rise in rail passengers causes car park misery

Rail bosses have blamed an ‘incredible’ rise in passenger numbers for the fact commuters cannot get parked at Tring railway station after 9am on weekdays.
Tring Station, May 2015Tring Station, May 2015
Tring Station, May 2015

Parking in the car park, which has 520 spaces, has become a bit of a squeeze after the number of passenger journeys leapt up by one third in seven years.

Francis Thomas, a spokesman for London Midland, said: “We have seen incredible growth in demand since London Midland started running trains seven years ago. Since then, the number of passenger journeys has grown by almost one third. This has put a strain on car parking at Tring and many other stations.

“We are constantly looking for ways of improving the situation but this is dependent on land becoming available nearby. At present we don’t have viable scheme to take the pressure off Tring car park but we continue to look for alternatives.”

One of the commuters who has regular problems parking at Tring is Steve White, who moved to the town 10 years ago with his family.

Mr White, who works as an IT consultant in the capital, said: “When I first started parking here, it cost £1.50 per day. Now it costs £6.30 a day but if you want to catch the 9.34am train, you can’t get parked.

People park on the double yellow lines and in unmarked spaces because they have no choice. I must have seen 20 to 30 cars in one day which all had tickets.”

There is a bus service and a dedicated cycle path that serve the station, but Mr White says neither of these can compete with the convenience of having your own car.

In December 2008, a £2.5million multi-storey car park was built by Network Rail and London Midland, creating 200 extra spaces.

This website approached Vinci Park – which runs the car park – about the increased pressure on spaces, but received no response.