PRICE INCREASE: Outrage at parking cost hike

Peterborough Today
19th June 06

A RAIL PASSENGER watchdog and fed up commuters today branded the decision to hike rail station car parking charges by 82 per cent as "outrageous".
As reported in The Evening Telegraph on Friday, shocked passengers travelling back from their jobs to Peterborough station were confronted by news of the huge price increase.Leaflets tucked under their windscreen wipers announced the price of an annual parking ticket will be rocketing from £594 to £1,080 from July 3.
Train operator GNER, which owns the station, justified the move by saying the extra revenue would be ploughed back into improving facilities, security and creating an extra 300 parking spaces.
But rail user watchdog Passenger Focus said the huge scale of the increases would put people off from using the trains. For some off-peak journeys, the cost of parking at the station is set to be almost as much as the train fare.
Chief executive Anthony Smith said: "These price hikes are totally out of proportion. This will not encourage people to use the railway. For many shorter journeys outside rush hour, the car park will cost more than the train."
He added that car park charges were a "soft target" because they are not regulated.
He continued: "Now we see the teeth of the new railway. Huge payments have been promised by some train companies to the Government. GNER is the first to really rack up the rates."
Marketing company chief executive Mike Green (41), who lives in the Crowland area, regularly travels to London. He said: "I'm outraged. It's happened in one sweep with two weeks' notice. This is just an outrageous abuse of a captive audience who have no other choice than to take the train at that time it the morning."
Passenger Derek Bell (52) is an IT consultant and commutes three days a week between Peterborough and Leeds. He branded the way GNER informed its customers of the rises "cold" and insisted he wouldn't be accepting the decision "without a struggle."He said: "GNER has got no consideration for its customers. "I catch the 6.51am train and have no option but to use the car park.
"I'm going to take this to my local MP, and I'm not going to accept it without a struggle."
A Peterborough City Council spokesman urged people who may be forced to look for off-street parking to be responsible and park lawfully.
City council leader councillor John Peach said he was "concerned" and would be discussing the issue further.
He added: "This does seem like an unacceptably large hike by GNER, especially in the same week that the city council-controlled parking has been named in the top 10 for providing the best value car parking in the country."
Increases across BritainAccording to a passenger focus survey released this week, satisfaction for GNER's car parking facilities is already low, with only 40 per cent of its passengers satisfied.
The different price increases of daily parking charges at stations across the country are as follows:
Peterborough – £5.50 to £10
Grantham – £5 to £9
Newark – £4.50 to £8.50
Retford – £3.50 to £4.50
Doncaster – £4.50 to £9
Wakefield – £7 to £10
York £8 to – £12
Darlington – £5.50 to £9
Durham – £4.50 to £8
Newcastle – £8 to £12