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Britain is already famous for having some of the most expensive train fares in the world. Now a Money investigation reveals how car parking charges at train stations have, in many cases, doubled in just a few years, with National Express imposing some of the biggest hikes.
It operates four franchises and in the last few weeks has imposed price increases of between 20% and 66% at some of the stations it controls.
The hike in parking fees comes on top of 6%-plus train fare increases, bringing the annual cost of commuting for those who leave their car at the station* to as much as £8,000.
While 60% of train fare increases are regulated, it seems anything goes in the world of car parking.
Our investigation reveals a random pattern across the country, in which some of the UK's poorest communities face the highest charges.
In the relatively deprived South Yorkshire town of Doncaster, after this January's increase, commuters pay £10 a day, or £1,080 for an annual pass. In Wakefield, it rises to £12 a day
Contrast both those with leafy Weybridge, in Surrey's stockbroker belt, where the locals are currently up in arms about a 50p-a-day increase to £4.50 a day – in a part of the country that has some the UK's most expensive homes, and highest land prices.
In this geographic lottery, much depends on the rail company controlling your station, and the charges it thinks it, or its subcontractors, will get away with. We also found price rises tend to follow a pattern in which no increase is made for two to three years, but then inflation-busting rises are imposed.
In Peterborough, another city hardly known for its wealth or high land prices, increases have been staggering. In 2006, there was a major outcry when then-franchise holder GNER increased its daily charge from an already-steep £5.50 a day to an astounding £10. National Express took over the east coast mainline in 2007 and promised to freeze parking charges for a year. Two years on, it has just upped the price by a further 20% – to £12 a day, or £1,300 a year.
The same company, on a different line, has just imposed a 66% increase at Billericay station in Essex. Commuters were horrified in January when they came back to a notice stating the daily charge was rising from £6 to £10 per day. Commuters at Leigh-on-Sea have seen their charge rise to £4.50 a day.
Diss station in Norfolk has just gone from £3.90 to £4.50 a day – even though the station is a good mile or so from the town centre. As a member of staff at Grantham station told Money: "As soon as National Express take over, the parking charges shoot up."
A look at comparable stations outside London shows that those operated by National Express appear to charge more than rival rail firms. Kettering (operated by East Midlands Trains) is a similar distance from London as Peterborough and charges a hefty, but significantly cheaper, £7.50 a day, or £834 annually.
In Hertford, there are two stations a mile apart. The one operated by National Express charges commuters £10 a day. The other, operated by First Capital Connect, charges £5.30 – quite a difference given their close proximity, and significantly more than paid by the good folk of Surrey.
South West Trains' recent decision to increase the price of all-day parking at six of its car parks infuriated commuters – including former editor of the Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie – although after reading this they may discover that they are better off than they realised.
The cost in Walton-on-Thames doubled to £4 a day. In Egham daily charges rose 20p to £4.50 a day, while at West Byfleet it actually fell 50p a day to £2.50. MacKenzie, who lives in Weybridge, told his local paper: "We want people to travel by train and everything should be done to encourage them. The increase at Walton station is a 100% rise in a world where we don't know if jobs are secure, and to hike the price up is an absolute disgrace.
"It's a monopoly, but there is nothing that can be done," he said, although his words will sound rather hollow to residents of Grantham (£10 a day) or Wakefield (£12).
It is not just the commuting routes that have seen big recent increases. National Express has just increased car parking charges at Dunbar station (on the coast near Edinburgh) to £4 per day – this for a rural town whose charm is that it is in the middle of nowhere.
At the other end of the UK, First Great Western's decision to start charging £2 a day or £370 a year at Bodmin Parkway station in Cornwall has drawn an angry response from commuters and a meeting with the local MP. The town is on the edge of a desolate moor –not exactly top-priced real estate.
Users of stations operated by First Great Western, including Bristol, Reading and Swindon – all on the main line west from London – have seen an 10% increase this year at a time when most of its customers face a pay freeze.
Parking at Bath Spa railway station has risen from £7.70 to £8.50 a day. Commuter Philip Symonds, who lives at Freshford, near Bath, and regularly uses the car park, told his local paper that, at a time of recession, it was "disgraceful. There is no excuse. We are getting nothing more for our money, and prices are going down elsewhere. There is no pressure to increase prices."
But First Great Western, which sets the prices, said the increase is the first since April 2004. A spokesman said improvement work had been carried out at many of its car parks, although he conceded there had been none at Bath.
The rise follows sharp increases in the cost of some First Great Western tickets at the start of the year, and well-publicised problems with overcrowding on the Bristol line.
Ashwin Kumar, director of consumer body Passenger Focus, says parking has become a easy target. "Passengers across Great Britain consistently tell us that operators must improve car parking facilities – only 44% say they are satisfied with what's provided at the station.
"Car parking charges are a soft target because they're not regulated and we urge train companies to show some discretion in the current economic *climate, when passengers are struggling with the cost of living."
National Express blamed the price hikes on its increasing costs: "Car parking charges on National Express East Coast were not increased for two years prior to 4 January 2009," a spokesman said. "During this time we have invested in better facilities, including more CCTV and pay machines.
"As a result, all our car parks have achieved Secure Parking Status, as awarded by the British Parking Association. On National Express East Anglia, we have invested significantly in improving facilities, including £2.1m to increase* capacity at Manningtree station, and over £500,000 on other expansion and improvement schemes."
Meanwhile, it looks as though car-driving train users can expect further rises next year to make up rail company incomes. Falling passenger numbers due to the recession and ticket price increases linked to rapidly falling inflation both spell trouble for the *privately run rail firms.
During 2010, can we expect to see £20 a day parking at a station near you?
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