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Thursday 19 Apr 2007

COVENTRY HERALDS NEW ERA FOR WEST COAST MAIN LINE CAR PARKING

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The new station multi storey car park at Coventry was officially opened this morning when The Lord Mayor of the City, Councillor Shabbir Ahmed unveiled a commemorative plaque on the top deck overlooking the West Coast Main Line. Completion of the improved parking facilities at Coventry marks the start of a massive programme of car park expansion on the West Coast Main Line to meet the demands of the new timetable starting in January 2009. Immediately after the unveiling, Peter Strachan, Network Rail Route Director and Charles Belcher, Managing Director for Virgin Trains West Coast signed an historic agreement which takes forward plans to see a near doubling of parking spaces at Virgin-managed stations on the main line between London and Glasgow. Network Rail will invest a total of £90m spread across 17 sites along the West Coast Main Line boosting the total number of car parking spaces from 6047 to 10534. The multi storey car park at Coventry has 4 decks and capacity for 358 cars. Construction started last July and represents £3.5m worth of investment that includes lifts, security lighting, CCTV and walk up pay machines that include payment by credit card. The contractors were GallifordTry. Speaking immediately after the ceremony, Peter Strachan said: "The modernisation of the West Coast Main Line has been a rail success story with more people using the route than ever before. As demand continues to rise, responding to the challenge of growth has become an important priority for Network Rail. Providing car parking spaces for passengers is a key part of this challenge and Coventry sees the start of a £90m investment by Network Rail which will improve facilities and provide thousands of additional car parking spaces for passengers using the West Coast route." Charles Belcher added: “The 2009 West Coast timetable with more trains and faster schedules is of course good news for customers with 10 million extra seats per year being added to the network. However, the need for more car parking spaces at stations is absolutely essential otherwise potential customers and drive past and complete their journeys by road