STATION CAR-PARK CHARGES; 'CONSULT THE USERS', SAYS SMITH

4.31.01pm GMT Wed 12th Dec 2007

North East Fife Iain Smith MSP has called upon Fife Council to widen its current consultation over the possible introduction of parking charges at 4 railway stations in Fife, including Leuchars.

'I am disappointed to see that the only consultation about the proposed charges is to be with the Council's own committees, rather than with the wider public and, particularly, the users of the car parks," he said.

"Surely the starting point should be to establish if the users of the car parks are bona fide rail passengers. If some people are discouraged from using the train because of the lack of parking at stations whilst others are parking who are not using the trains, then clearly some action needs to be taken to address this.

"The Council also needs to consider the impact that the charges would have on travel choices. Whilst it would be a good thing should a driver decide, upon introduction of the charge, to use a bus instead of a car, it would be a very bad thing if the driver decided to make the whole journey by car instead rather than using the train," Iain Smith concluded.

ENDS