Pay Parking at stations - unjustifiable rip off

[Mark]

Hopefully the pay parking measures will deter those situations. I feel that Iarnrod Eireann could engage in some awareness campaigns at some of the other stations suffering from people driving short distances. Reminders to people that it only takes 10 mins to walk 1km, costs €X per km to run your car, pollution per km etc..

[karman]

It's all very well to say that people who live within a km of the station are lazy for driving and should be walking, but this doesn't take into account:

1. The climate... it's hardly mediterranean! I for one do not like arriving at / sitting in work all day in a damp suit or have a damp rain suit hanging up in a small office.

2. The quality of roads, footpaths & street lighting around many outlying stations leaves a lot to be desired. I have had cars come uncomfortably close to me on the narrow road down to Louisa Bridge station... this does not encourage me to walk.

3. Other tasks achieved on the way to the station such as dropping kids to creche or school.

I may be missing the point here, but I think paying €5 pw for a car park is infintely preferable to parking on a muddy verge on a poorly lit road. People are voting with their feet...or their wheels when they are too lazy to use their feet ... the car park at Louisa Bridge is almost always full by 9 a.m. on a weekday.

[plant43]

Originally Posted by karman

It's all very well to say that people who live within a km of the station are lazy for driving and should be walking, but this doesn't take into account:

1. The climate... it's hardly mediterranean! I for one do not like arriving at / sitting in work all day in a damp suit or have a damp rain suit hanging up in a small office.

2. The quality of roads, footpaths & street lighting around many outlying stations leaves a lot to be desired. I have had cars come uncomfortably close to me on the narrow road down to Louisa Bridge station... this does not encourage me to walk.

3. Other tasks achieved on the way to the station such as dropping kids to creche or school.

I may be missing the point here, but I think paying €5 pw for a car park is infintely preferable to parking on a muddy verge on a poorly lit road. People are voting with their feet...or their wheels when they are too lazy to use their feet ... the car park at Louisa Bridge is almost always full by 9 a.m. on a weekday.

1. The number of days when you're washed out is minimal. I cycle every day and the number of days I'm rained on is actually not that great.

2. Funding should be diverted from improving car parks to improving pedestrian access to train station.

3. And so the vicous cycle continues. Children are growing up thinking that the only way to travel short distances is to drive. Back in my day (and it's not even that long ago) we walked 30 minutes to school and we liked it. Children can be brought to school on foot (or on bike, quite an impressive range of accessories for that these days).

It can entirely be put down to laziness.

[Mark Gleeson]

The problem is in the vast majority of locations the station are not within reasonable walking distance, especially given the poor development and planning standards pushing housing into green fields miles from anywhere

So
Rush and Lusk
Gormanston
Drogheda
Bray
Sallins
Newbridge
Kildare
Templemore

Newbridge, Sallins and Gormanston where free and either are or will be charged
Templemore is being extended but won't be charged

The only progress we have had on this is confirmation from Irish Rail that they are now looking at including the parking on annual ticket after we raised the issue.

Parking is the solution, the only realistic solution is proper local bus services. Note Rush and Lusk has a bus stop but not much of a service, same thing can be said of Sallins and Hazelhatch where there is a service but its a joke

[plant43]

Originally Posted by Mark Gleeson

The problem is in the vast majority of locations the station are not within reasonable walking distance, especially given the poor development and planning standards pushing housing into green fields miles from anywhere

Newbridge

I don't think this statement is true of Newbridge. The station is not too far from the town centre and I think most of the town is within reasonable walking distance of the station. Plus the only housing developements that I know of going on in Newbridge at the moment are near the station (Meadows at Cornelscourt, Roseberry Hill, Rosconnell and some apartments that I can't remember the name of). Nevertheless there's still a good few cars that go from Roseberry Hill to the station in the morning. Mind you, the road over the railway bridge needs to be upgraded to improve pedestrian access.

Also for Lusk, I'm pretty sure that if a footpath was laid from the village to the train station that more people would walk, as it's not that far from the village to the station.

[Mark Gleeson]

If you live next to the station you are lucky, if you live anywhere else in Newbridge its a long long walk

Its 10 minutes just to get to the post office on the main street, 10 minutes is the limit to what people are expected to walk to reach public transport

[Derek Wheeler]

I was the first person to speak of "subsidised" local bus services for commuter belt rail stations. It is a concept I stand over and would defend to the end. In terms of Newbridge, most housing development has taken place on the opposite side of the town. (Green road and towards Kilcullen) Further development on the station side of the town has happened along college road and its so expansive that very little of it is within walking distance of the station.

Car Parks are unsustainable. Im no tree hugging green party member, but the practice of extending car parks and charging for them is counter productive to public transport. It causes localised congestion. For every car we stop going into Dublin through park and ride, we place it on local roads in communities that aren't capable of dealing with it. A station car park should be a luxury and not a revenue generating necessity. Public transport is about integration. The bus should integrate with the train and eliminate a substantial amount of road traffic.

In Sallins, the local rail feeder bus has not changed its timetable, route or capacity since it was introduced in the early 90s. Its now hardly used because its out of touch with how Naas has developed.

Subsidised bus services feeding into rail stations would be the correct way of doing things. But when John Lynch (chairman of CIE) talks with pride about the Irelands forthcoming biggest park and ride in Dunboyne, you should realise that even the states official transport provider is fuelling car dependency.

[plant43]

Originally Posted by Mark

Hopefully the pay parking measures will deter those situations. I feel that Iarnrod Eireann could engage in some awareness campaigns at some of the other stations suffering from people driving short distances. Reminders to people that it only takes 10 mins to walk 1km, costs €X per km to run your car, pollution per km etc..

They could run awareness campaigns till they were blue in the face but I don't think it would change very much.