Minister gets Iarnród Éireann to review parking charges

PARKING CHARGES at the State’s railway stations are to be reviewed following a complaint by Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar that high charges appear to be discouraging customers.

Based on his experience of charges in Dublin, and on reports from other TDs, including Fine Gael TD for Cork East David Stanton, Mr Varadkar told Iarnród Éireann: “The effect of these charges has been to empty the car parks and displace the cars on to neighbouring roads and estates.”

Iarnród Éireann defended its pricing scheme, which offers daily rates of about €3, less if booked in advance. But the company said it would review the charges following Mr Varadkar’s comments.

In a letter to Iarnród Éireann chief executive Dick Fearn, Mr Varadkar said he thought it was reasonable to charge for parking. But he said he was concerned the company had “got the price points wrong, as most of the station car parks are now half-empty when they used to be overflowing”.

The Minister said as “a constituency TD in a commuter area” he had experienced the problem. He mentioned Coolmine and Clonsilla in Dublin in particular, although he noted the local authority controlled paid parking at Clonsilla.

Mr Varadkar concluded his letter with a request for a review of the charges “on the basis that a lower charge may encourage more commuters to use the car park”.

Mr Stanton said he had negotiated free parking at local stations during the summer, and while this had resulted in a loss of revenue for the company it had eased the problem. He said that at Glounthaune station he had observed one car in the station car park and about 60 on the road. A similar situation was observed at Little Island, while at Midleton about 25 cars were in the car park but many more were on the road.

Iarnród Éireann spokesman Barry Kenny said usage rates, particularly in the greater Dublin area, “remain high in the vast majority of car parks”. He said parking facilities in east Cork were “lightly used” but the free parking during the summer had not resulted in increased use of car parks.