Cost to build a station car parking space?

[geoffk]

I think the point was that there were only spaces for a few disabled users, not questioning the ratio of them. Marsh Barton only has a drop off and a few disabled spaces, there’s no general parking.

Yes, spaces for disabled users only, no general parking.

 

[Diedinium]

I would agree with you - on the condition that the urban area be provided with a dense and frequent (maximum service interval 15 minutes) bus service that runs at times that enables people to get from all areas to the first train and from the last and that these also serve edge of town P&R sites. I have a weekly / twice-weekly evening commitment that involves travelling from my home to a location that is about a 15 minute minute walk from a station on a direct line with a reasonably convenient (though not frequent) evening service. I have a season ticket which means that I could effectively do the journey for nothing - and yet I drive. Why? Two main reasons - although my "home station" is only a twenty minute walk away - that's downhill (about 470 feet in about a mile and a half). Coming home, it's uphill and by that time of night the bus is down to an hourly frequency. Car parking at or near the station is extortionate - so it's car all the way. It annoys me greatly but I'm not prepared to be getting back home dripping with sweat or at nearly midnight.

Yeah this is fair, there should be a much bigger emphasis on public transport in general not just rail - as you point out the buses (and trams) that connect to stations are often just as important.

Unlike the idealist views they held in the 70's when building park and ride stations (i.e. Bristol Parkway) people don't tend to park at a station and take the train into cities on the scale they envisioned, like you said, once someone is in a car they try to do their entire trip in it (or will do so long as parking is possible at their destination), so it's about trying to make it more likely that public transport is used from the get-go.

 

[renegademaster]

These kind of underused semi rural car parks make good boot fair grounds , and emergency aid distribution during floods and what not.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Is there a charge for that new car park at Manea as some might decide not to bother using the 2 hourly train and drive to Ely/Peterborough instead.

It's free, because it's owned by Fenland DC, and apparently all of theirs are: Fenland car parks.
Ely is £7.50 a day and March is £5 a day, but Littleport is £2 a day. I don't know how full the Littleport car park is on a daily basis, but I'd think cost-conscious drivers would start using Manea car park, at least if they're commuting towards Peterborough or as far down as Cambridge. The more frequent London service and reasonable parking cost at Littleport may tempt the London commuters.

 

[TheBigD]

1000 on a Monday morning and there is a single solitary car in Manea car park.

 

[mr_moo]

Given the economics of connecting services, all mainline stations should have a good sized car park to enable park and ride, combining rail for the journey to London (or another city) where train is best and car for the station to home where it likely is, attracting more customers to increase revenue and pay for the railway requires a service which meets the customers needs.

Though at many stations, particularly tube stations in outer London where it was somewhat controversial, a 2/3 level carpark with flats above could combine both.

Yes and no. Depends on the purpose of the station.

Cambridge south will not have any car park. It does have a few disabled spaces, plus pick-up/drop-off and taxi spaces, but that's it. However, there is the trumpington park and ride not too far away but not great as you'll need a bus which just becomes more faffy.
However, the target market is people using the hospitals and sceince park, plus the local housing. People driving into the area would more likely use Trupington Park and ride then get the bus into Cambridge station instead.

 

[12LDA28C]

In the late 1990s/early 2000s Chiltern Railways started to install double deck parking at some of their stations. My recollection is that they made it clear they were doing so as economically as reasonably possible. I wonder what those installations cost.

Whatever they cost, short-termism prevailed and a false economy was made. At least one of those upper decks is now life expired.

 

[CyrusWuff]

Whatever they cost, short-termism prevailed and a false economy was made. At least one of those upper decks is now life expired.

Rumour has it that it may be all of them, judging by the top decks at Beaconsfield, Bicester North, Haddenham & Thame Parkway and High Wycombe all having being closed indefinitely.