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Monday 11 Apr 2011

PENRITH STATION GAINS BIGGER CAR PARK THANKS TO £2.5M PROJECT

Region & Route:

A new single-deck car park has been built at Penrith railway station on the West Coast Main Line. It opened today, Monday, 11 April.

The £2.5m scheme provides 30 additional spaces, bringing the total at the station to 125.

Work started last November when the original car park was closed and a temporary one opened a short walk away.

The new one adjacent to the station is part of a joint project by Network Rail and Virgin Trains to replace or extend car parks at stations managed by Virgin Trains, at a total cost of around £90m.

Stuart Davison, Station Manager for Virgin Trains in Cumbria, said: “The limited parking facilities at Penrith North Lakes station have caused problems for rail travellers in recent years. Now with over 30 per cent extra spaces everyone should be able to find a parking space. The new bargain weekend rate will no doubt be welcome.”

Jo Kaye, route director for Network Rail who built the car park, said: “Providing car parking at railway stations is all about true transport integration – passengers driving short distances to the station to then use the railway they rely on for the longer part of their journey”.

The German design, which has also been used on other car parks in the project, is a steel construction. The deck is concrete cast over steel and covered in a coloured surface called Conideck, which is applied to reduce tyre noise. The outside is clad in red cedar that comes from a sustainable source.

Network Rail worked closely with Eden District Council over the design of the car park, making sure it fitted in with the sensitive surroundings, and to obtain listed building consent.

The contractor that built the car park for Network Rail is Balfour Beatty, who also built several other car parks in the overall project.

For the safety and security of users, the new car park has CCTV with 24 hour recording and lighting to make the car park a safe and secure location.

A new charging structure is also being introduced.

From 11 April all-day parking at Penrith station on Mondays to Fridays costs £8, and is the first increase in parking charges at the station for more than five years. A new one-day rate of only £2 has been introduced for weekends and bank holidays. Monthly, quarterly, six monthly and annual season tickets are also available for regular users.

The station is used by around 395,000 passengers a year, an increase of about 150,000 since 2005.