Train station parking a daily battle, drivers say

Commuters say a train station car park in a growing town is like the "Wild West" and in desperate need of improvements.

During a visit to Howden Railway Station, East Yorkshire, the BBC found the car park overflowing by 07:00 BST, with 56 cars squeezed on to a patch of land meant to accommodate 21 and others left on grass verges beside the road.

Sian Dickinson, who uses the car park twice a week, said: "It's an absolute fight and a struggle, just to try and find a space."

A spokesperson for Northern, the train firm that manages the station, said: "We realise the car park at Howden is in a poor condition and are discussing options for potential improvements."

Dickinson said she tried to get to the station about 40 minutes before her train departed in order to get a space.

"It's not the right size for Howden and the surrounding areas now. It's just not fit for purpose," she added.

Howden, which is close to the M62, has grown over the past decade with more than 750 new homes, according to East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC). The expansion is due to continue with planning permission in place for 1,900 homes, a school, supermarket and a medical centre.

Commuter Hannah Smith said: "It's only going to get worse, more people are moving, villages are getting bigger.

"Every gap that's taken is taken and there are no segregated spaces, so it really is a Wild West of just trying your best to slot the cars in."

The railway station is more than a mile outside the town beside a rural B road.

David Howard, a ward councillor, said some commuters used the car park because it was free. In neighbouring Brough, motorists have to pay £8 a day.

"People come from other villages with stations and park here to save money," Howard said.

"Or they park here for a weekend away or they park here for up to a week, 10 days, while they go on holiday."

The car park was "a mess" and verge parking to either side of a level crossing was "dangerous", he added.

"We are growing as a town and we need the car park to increase with it."

At Brough station, a new 52-space overflow car park opened last year.

Developers said it was needed due to a "significant increase" in traffic in the area over recent years.

Howard says he would "love" Howden to have something similar.

Noah Mullins drives about 23 miles from Kirk Ella, near Hull, to Howden in order to catch the train to work in York.

"I usually can park at Brough, which is a lot closer, but it's £8 to park at that train station, so it makes so much more sense coming here, where it's free to park," he said. "It halves my ticket price as well.

Asked about having to sometimes park on the grass verge, he said: "It's all I can do to get my train."

ERYC said it recognised "the frustration" surrounding the car park and supported bringing "key organisations together" to "agree practical steps" towards a solution.

The station is managed by Northern but owned by Network Rail.

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