Are Irish Rail planning on introducing paid-parking to Ballybrophy ?

[laoisfan]

Hi,

I am just wondering if anyone has heard of Irish Rail planning on introducing paid-parking at Ballybrophy ? Rumour that they are planning to apply for permission to extend the existing car park. I checked Laois County Council planning online, nothing granted in the last year and no new application got in for the last 42 days.

Any information would be appreciated.

It would be a killer as this station is rural with the nearest towns/villages approx. 2.5-3 miles in either direction from the train station. No alternative.

Thanks.

[Mark Gleeson]

At this point its unclear if they will charge

After several years of trying to charge everyone everywhere they have started to back off and more rural locations.

[laoisfan]

Thanks Mark.

Apparently there were some Irish Rail suits out counting cars recently.

There has been a decrease in nearby Templemore, noticeable increase in car in Ballybrophy, as people save several hundred per year on annual ticket plus avoid car parking charges. Driving between Templemore to Ballybrophy is not a big deal either.

[Thomas J Stamp]

Originally Posted by laoisfan

Thanks Mark.

Apparently there were some Irish Rail suits out counting cars recently.

There has been a decrease in nearby Templemore, noticeable increase in car in Ballybrophy, as people save several hundred per year on annual ticket plus avoid car parking charges. Driving between Templemore to Ballybrophy is not a big deal either.

templemore started charging just after they finally tarmacked the carpark, and then extended it. today there is a long line of cars outside the carpark every day, half of the carpack is fenced off, the other half is half empty.

brophy is being used instead, its as far from my house to either, brophy cheaper ticket and no car park charging, so far. if IE charge there is a good approach road where everyone will park instead leaving an empty car park.

[James Howard]

It would be good if they got a bit more real about parking. In rural locations, there are very few people leaving the car without using the train.

People are funny about parking and a 3 euro charge (most occasional users will not have a parkbytext account) will often persuade two people in a car to drive rather than use the train. There is no way the parking charges are revenue positive to Irish Rail.

In urban areas it is different, you could argue that the charges are too low in places like Longford or Mullingar where the stations are in the town centre and it can cost a euro an hour to park on the street. In these cases, they should give you a day free with a day return and two or three days with a monthly return.

[Ronald Binge]

Originally Posted by James Howard

It would be good if they got a bit more real about parking. In rural locations, there are very few people leaving the car without using the train.

People are funny about parking and a 3 euro charge (most occasional users will not have a parkbytext account) will often persuade two people in a car to drive rather than use the train. There is no way the parking charges are revenue positive to Irish Rail.

In urban areas it is different, you could argue that the charges are too low in places like Longford or Mullingar where the stations are in the town centre and it can cost a euro an hour to park on the street. In these cases, they should give you a day free with a day return and two or three days with a monthly return.

Hilarious, over on boards.ie CIE is being criticised for having free parking at Gort etc. God forbid that any extra pax use the Limerick - Galway trains