Dan Rogerson MP for North Cornwall

Rail passengers who park their cars at Bodmin Parkway should escape any extra charging regime installed by First Great Western, according to North Cornwall’s MP, Dan Rogerson.

The local Liberal Democrat MP met with Julian Crowe, First Great Western’s Regional Manager this week to demand that plans for fees at the station car park should not affect genuine passengers leaving their vehicles to catch a train.

Mr Rogerson says other stations around the country have found ways to charge non-passengers, but give a rebate to those using the railway, and has followed up his meeting by writing to FGW’s Chief Executive, Mark Hopwood.

Commenting, he said:

“I am grateful to Julian Crowe for meeting with me at Bodmin Parkway station.

“First Great Western believe that people are parking there to use other local amenities like Lanhydrock and to take part in car sharing.  However, measures to resist those problems should not adversely affect genuine passengers.

“A £2 charge is a significant increase particularly for those who only make local journeys to Plymouth or Truro, and it is much better that they continue to do so by train than that they drive all the way.  If charging must go ahead, a way must be found to reimburse passengers using the train.

“Rail travel in Britain is already among the most expensive in Europe.  It cannot be right to increase the cost still further by penalising those who leave the car parked up in favour of taking a greener, cleaner train.”