NORTH WEST TO BENEFIT AS NETWORK RAIL EXPANDS WEST COAST CAR PARKS

Wednesday 18 Apr 2007

NORTH WEST TO BENEFIT AS NETWORK RAIL EXPANDS WEST COAST CAR PARKS

Region & Route:

Passengers using North West stations are set to benefit after Network Rail announced it will build new car parks providing an additional 2,089 spaces. The project is part 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. Network Rail will invest a total of £90m at 17 stations along the route boosting the total number of car parking spaces from 6047 to 10534. Network Rail Route Director 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 the North West is part of a major investment programme by Network Rail which will improve facilities and provide thousands of additional car parking spaces for passengers using the West Coast route." Charles Belcher, Chief Executive of Virgin West Coast 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 to avoid potential customers driving past and completing their journeys by road." Work is likely to start in early 2008 with completion by December 2008.

Notes to editors

Network Rail is currently evaluating options for the new car parks, all of which are likely to be located on or near to the existing station car parks. See attached for a table showing the proposed increase in car parking spaces along the WCML

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