Taking the strain out of getting to the station
Most journeys we take involve more than one mode. Whether it’s a bus ride and a stroll to work, or a cycle to the station and a train ride to meet friends, or a drive and walk from the car park to your final destination. The less you use a car, the more modes you will inevitably employ to get from A to B. One of the downsides of public transport often cited by people who tend to drive more is the cost and convenience of the door-to-door trip a car can provide. Yet, when public transport and active travel link up, we can achieve a similar level of door-to-door service, but far too often this isn’t the case.
One supporter told us that they now drive to work because it’s cheaper than parking at the railway station and taking the train. That made us wonder if this was a bigger problem that could be preventing more people from taking the train?
We decided to find out and commissioned a survey from polling company You Gov. The survey revealed that:
- More than half (58 per cent) of English drivers/car owners polled agreed that the cost of parking at railway stations made them less likely to use a train, while only a quarter (28 per cent) disagreed
- Almost half (47 per cent) of drivers agreed they would use the train more if parking at the station was cheaper
- An overwhelming majority of drivers (69 per cent) believed the cost of taking a train and parking at the station was more expensive than driving
- Two thirds of drivers (66 per cent) believe it is more difficult and complicated to take the train than to drive.
These results were disappointing. Our towns and cities are already suffering from the results of too much traffic with congestion and air pollution causing social, environmental, economic and health problems. Making public transport journeys seamless and cheaper is one way to compete with the perceived ease and convenience of the car. Even journeys where only one element involves public transport need to work well so that public transport isn’t seen as the poor relation, or mode of last resort.
Unfortunately, many railway stations in the UK have poor links to the town centres and the communities they serve. This is often a legacy of the 19th century when the fundamental concern of railway builders was to minimise the costs of railway construction rather than to serve wider public interests. Developments since then have not helped, and for decades transport and spatial planning was more concerned with providing access by car than by public transport.
So what can be done to fix these missing links and help more people switch at least part of their car journey to the train?
Firstly, we’d like to see better bus, walking and cycling routes to railway stations so that more people have an alternative to driving. Of course, we understand that this is achievable to varying degrees depending on the location of the station, but for the majority of railway stations there is no good reason why bus services can’t be timed to coincide with train times, and where safe cycle storage facilities can’t be provided. A report we did way back in 2013 called Fixing the Link: Making good the walking route from station to town centre, found that something as simple as better signage can help encourage people to walk to the station more.
Of course, not everybody is going to be able to walk, cycle or catch a bus to the railway station no matter how well connected it is. For some people the journey will always need to start in a car and it’s these people that we want to ensure do not decide to continue their trip by car because it’s cheaper and easier. Swapping any part of your journey from a car to public transport is beneficial in terms of people and planet and should be encouraged. For that to happen we want to see rail passengers who need to drive offered discounted parking at railway stations when they buy a train ticket. We’d also like to see a trial of free parking at a small number of stations where there are few public transport alternatives and the car park is not likely to be used by non-rail passengers.
We can’t view transport in silos as one mode or another. We have to ensure different modes work well together and complement each other, especially if we are to break our car habits. Making it easier for people to switch from their cars to public transport, even for part of their journeys, is crucial to reducing transport’s negative impact on communities and the climate.
