[Article] Car parks lie empty as rail commuters boycott charges

[comcor]

Car parks lie empty as rail commuters boycott charges

By Sean O’Riordan

Friday, May 07, 2010

COMMUTERS are voting with their feet and boycotting pay parking charges introduced at stations along the Cork-Midleton line.

Pay and display parking was introduced at a number of older stations in Cork and Kerry last March.

But charges came into force on July 30 last year at Midleton and Carrigtwohill when the €75 million rail line was opened.

However, they were only introduced two months ago at Little Island and Glounthaune stations when their car parks were upgraded.

Very few cars can be spotted in the 340-space car park at Midleton and the 180-spaces in Carrigtwohill.

Commuters are also boycotting the 46-space car park in Glounthaune and the 110-space car park at Little Island.

Fine Gael TD David Stanton said the parking charges weren’t working and should be discontinued, or at least suspended for six months, so that Iarnród Éireann officials could gauge the negative impact they were having.

Mr Stanton said he’d seen at first hand the almost empty car park at Midleton railway station. "People are parking elsewhere in the town and walking into the station. The town council could put double yellow lines on roads around the station, but that might only discourage people from using the service."

People using Glounthaune are parking their cars on the road outside, while several of those using Little Island station are parking their cars in at a nearby Cork County Council recycling centre.

"I know the daily charge is minimal at €2, but it soon adds up over the year," Mr Stanton added.

Drivers can pay €8 for a weekly parking ticket or €30 for a monthly ticket.

A spokeswoman for Iarnród Éireann said it ran a two-week free parking promotion at Midleton last Christmas but the increase in use was marginal. "Usage of the car parks is low and many are choosing to walk or cycle to the stations."

http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/car-parks-lie-empty-as-rail-commuters-boycott-charges-119116.html#ixzz0nEOAulAv


I've remarked on this before on another thread.

It's not going to be such an issue at Carrigtwohill, Glounethaune or Little Island as the areas people are parking in aren't so much of a problem. However, in Midleton, where the station is surrounded by housing, this is going to become a growing issue for local residents.

I can't for the life of me work out why Irish Rail try charging for parking in places where on street parking is free.

[markpb]

I can't for the life of me work out why Irish Rail try charging for parking in places where on street parking is free.

IIRC they signed a profit-sharing arrangement with the car park operator. Any money is better than no money.

[Locky]

It's also very frustrating for those of us that pay to park and IE staff (in Dundalk anyway) get any available spaces right at the front door of the station and DON'T pay. They also park in the 'set down only' area without any penalty. I also have an issue with the fact that while we have to pay for parking this doesn't afford us any extra security whilst parked there. :(

[Mark Gleeson]

We discussed this specfic issue with IE. Got the usual we will look into it

There is no reason to charge it makes no sense when the full cost of the car park was paid for already

[finnyus]

A spokeswoman for Iarnród Éireann said it ran a two-week free parking promotion at Midleton last Christmas but the increase in use was marginal. "Usage of the car parks is low and many are choosing to walk or cycle to the stations."

Forgive this outburst, but that is a load of bo***x!!!! There was NO notice at all at Midleton that there was free parking over Christmas. The parking ticket machines were turned on and anyone that parked at the station paid the 2Euro. I received an email (general email) about it from Kent station - that was the only notice that I saw about free parking in Midleton.

Carrigtwohill car park machines had a blue plastic bad over them, but again no notice of ANY free parking.

Just as a side note:
[07.05.2010] 08:45 Midleton - Cork
I saw max 3 cars parked @ Carrigtwohill this morning
10 ppl (including my brother) boarded @ Little Island and got a free spin to Cork, no ticket checker/seller on the train or checker @ Kent station
Surely Little Island is a busy station, maybe time to try another TVM or re-open the booking office. As of last Monday, Glounthaune booking office has reopened.

:mad:

[James Howard]

I suspect this was done to death some time ago, but I would be surprised if the car-parking yields any postive cash flow for Irish Rail.

When the parking came in, there was a signficant drop in traffic on the train but it was somewhat co-incidental with the onset of the recession so it is hard to know if it is cause and effect.

I do know that there is now at least one car-pool of four former train users going from Edgeworthstown. That is a loss of more than 12 grand in revenue to Irish Rail, which I would think is more than they collect from the car park.

[ACustomer]

Yes, I think this has been covered before. It should be totally obvious that if car-parking charges drive people away from the train via car-pooling or whgatever, that the effect on IE's net revenue could be negative. It says a lot about their total lack of the most elementary business common-sense that they do not seem to realise this.

The sheer and sustained incompetence which pervades some organisations is simply mind-boggling.

[dowlingm]

All of the 240/241/260/261 services passing through or near Midleton should be calling at the station, and fares should be integrated. There are seven or eight morning services from Whitegate, Ballinacurra, Cloyne, Ballycotton and Youghal which should be dropping passengers at the train, then heading off west on local stops in places like Ballintubber or heading back east to pick up more passengers. Instead, many of these services run express or semi-express in direct competition to the train. But then, the "sister company" would never stand for being told to actually co-operate, rather than simply pillage routes like the South Wexford.

[Thomas Ralph]

There's virtually no incentive for passengers to buy tickets on Midleton line services, so that would just drive down revenues further.

[comcor]

Rail firm urged to cut parking charges

By Sean O’Riordan

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

IARNRÓD Éireann has again been urged to drop car parking charges along a busy commuter route after it emerged the company received €8,201,878 in development levies from Cork County Council.

Special development levies were applied to developers and private home builders along the Cork-Midleton rail corridor to help defray the costs of reopening the line.

Since 2004 the levies have been collected by the local authority at a rate of €26.88 per sq metre on residential development and €92.88 per sq metre on office developments within one kilometre of the rail stations.

Many of those householders who forked out to pay for the privilege of living near the railway are now faced with paying €2 per day to park in Irish Rail car parks adjacent to stations at Little Island, Glounthaune and Midleton.

However, the car parks remain virtually empty on a daily basis as people park their cars on nearby roads rather than pay the charge, which was introduced just a few weeks ago.

In Little Island commuters are parking in a nearby recycling centre operated by the council.

Cllr Gerry Kelly (FG) said Iarnród Éireann should withdraw the parking charges.

"They are looking for further money off local people who have already paid a tax which was used to fund the service in the first place. The approach taken by them is ridiculous in that they are frightening away commuters by imposing a parking charge. It is important that a critical mass of train users is achieved and slapping on parking charges which amount to almost 50% of the cost of the train ticket to the city is not the way to go," Mr Kelly said.

County manager Martin Riordan has supported any move to get Iarnród Éireann to drop the parking charges, at least in the medium term, to encourage more people to use commuter trains.

The issue is likely to be discussed by commuters between 4pm and 6pm today when they get the opportunity meet local Iarnród Éireann managers.

The company has invited rail-users to discuss any issues of interest or concern they may have about InterCity, commuter or customer services.

"We find this type of feedback invaluable and it also allows us highlight any new improvements we have in customer service."

Station manager Ray Foley said that the TVMs [Ticket Vending Machine] "have now been updated with new software and Iarnród Éireann is delighted to announce that you can now collect your reserved tickets, which have been booked online, through any of our six vending machines at Kent Station, Cork".

.

[Colm Moore]

Station manager Ray Foley said that the TVMs [Ticket Vending Machine] "have now been updated with new software and Iarnród Éireann is delighted to announce that you can now collect your reserved tickets, which have been booked online, through any of our six vending machines at Kent Station, Cork".But there were always ticket collection machines there anyway and these have been taken out of service.

You can't book Midleton-Heuston on the internet, so you have to get two tickets.

[Thomas Ralph]

Actually the ticket distribution machines have been refitted with coin and note acceptors so there are now six machines in Cork (four next to the gents toilets and two by the entrance to platforms 3 and 4), all of which sell (some) tickets and distribute reserved tickets.

I collected a reservation from Sandymount this morning :D

[plant43]

Since 2004 the levies have been collected by the local authority at a rate of €26.88 per sq metre on residential development and €92.88 per sq metre on office developments within one kilometre of the rail stations.

Many of those householders who forked out to pay for the privilege of living near the railway are now faced with paying €2 per day to park in Irish Rail car parks adjacent to stations at Little Island, Glounthaune and Midleton.

I would (reasonably) argue that if you live within 1km of the station, then you should be walking or cycling there.

[comcor]

I can understand why someone wouldn't want to around Glounethaune or Little Island given the lack of footpaths in the area. That's especially true in Winter and after dark. Obviously, that's an issue for Cork County Council rather than Irish Rail.

The development levies to me looks like a smokescreen, with the major issue about the way people are parking in local estates around empty car parks. Maybe getting that is why David Stanton is in the Dail, while Gerry Kelly failed to be elected in 2007.

[Mark Gleeson]

I would (reasonably) argue that if you live within 1km of the station, then you should be walking or cycling there.

In Midleton I'd guess most are in fact walking. Its amazing it took 11 months for the local councillors to remember there was a levy structure in place. Needless to say they sat back and didn't complain about the charge at the public hearing so they can't complain as Irish Rail from the outset said they would be charging.

Its been a battle for at least 4 years and I don't see Irish Rail backing down no matter how much financial sense it would make.

[Thomas Ralph]

The development levies to me looks like a smokescreen, with the major issue about the way people are parking in local estates around empty car parks. Maybe getting that is why David Stanton is in the Dail, while Gerry Kelly failed to be elected in 2007.

Aren't they in different constituencies?

[comcor]

Aren't they in different constituencies?

They are.

Stanton is in Cork East; Kelly in Cork North Central.

I think Little Island and Glounethaune are in Cork North Central, while all other East Cork stations are in Cork East. Glounethaune must be right on the border between the two constituencies.

The statement was more about knowing what is bothering constituents. As far as I can gather, the parking outside the station is more of an issue for people who live in those areas than the parking charges are for people who park at the station (after all they just park outside).

[Colm Moore]

In some Dublin areas parking is a particular problem near stations.

When the DART was extended to Malahide, it gained a lot of Swords commuters who drove instead of taking the 102 feeder bus or the Dublin Bus 230, resulting in a surge in commuter parking in an area that was already a village core.

Some people now park 500m+ from the station. The Stillorgan QBC was similar, with a lot of people parking in or around UCD and then getting a bus into the city centre.

In other areas, even putting in (relatively) low tariff pay parking substantially alters the streetscape for residents and visitors. My street is typically 20-30% occupied during the day, while neighbouring streets are at (or even above) 100% occupancy.

[comcor]

I don't think we have residents-only parking areas in Ireland, which would solve the issue completely. Is that because legislation doesn't allow for it or because local councils just haven't been bothered.

[markpb]

I don't think we have residents-only parking areas in Ireland, which would solve the issue completely. Is that because legislation doesn't allow for it or because local councils just haven't been bothered.

Local authorities can (and do) designate streets as permit-only or permit/ticket only if the majority of the residents request it.

[Colm Moore]

Local authorities can (and do) designate streets as permit-only or permit/ticket only if the majority of the residents request it.I'm not sure if there are many permit-only areas, but permit/ticket only are common.

Permit-only areas would make visiting people quite difficult. In Dublin City the solution to prevent all day parking in such areas is to limit parking to 3 hours* on any particular street. This makes it too difficult for most commuters.


* Bye-law limit and maximum amount of time you can buy. Some areas are 1 or 2 hour.

[Thomas Ralph]

Residents/ticket only is available; I don't think residents-only is though.

[comcor]

I'm pretty certain that permits only isn't allowed.

I have a friend who lived about 10 minutes walk out of Cork City Centre and his parking permit allowed him to park in his street and a few neighbouring ones. But in business hours, he often couldn't find a space in those streets because of people using the paid parking. Local residents raised it with the councillors, but they claimed to be powerless.

Whether that meant it wasn't allowed or the city manager wouldn't allow it, I'm not sure.

Eventually he moved out of the area because of it.

The issue of visitors isn't generally a major one as restrictions only apply from 9am to 7pm.

[Colm Moore]

Some areas of Dublin have restrictions from 0700 to 2400. Some had even longer restrictions, however, if someone hasn't moved their car my midnight, they are unlikely to move it by 0300, so such restrictions weren't much use to residents..

[comcor]

Irish Rail has finally seen sense and scrapped parking charges in Midleton, Carrigtwohill, Glounethaune and Little Island

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/iarnrod-eireann-to-drop-parking-charges-at-four-commuter-stations-195875.html

[Thomas Ralph]

But only for three months!

[comcor]

My first thought was that it was a pilot that would probably be made permanent, but I've just copped that it coincides with the time when students are not at college.