Four Oaks railway station in the Midlands has opened a new £2m Park & Ride extension.
Centro completed the work in just under four months, increasing Park & Ride capacity at the station by almost 20%.
The scheme, which built a steel framed single-deck car park over one of the existing car parks, added 55 more spaces to the existing 275 at the busy station near Sutton Coldfield.
The aim is to ease overcrowding at the Park & Ride facility – which proved so popular with commuters that it filled up well before the end of the morning rush hour.
Cllr Kath Hartley, Vice-Chairman of the region’s Transport Delivery Committee, said: “The free parking spaces we provide at Four Oaks and other stations across the West Midlands have been hugely successful in attracting thousands of motorists to make the bulk of their daily commute by train.
“Park & Ride is extremely popular and spaces get snapped up very quickly each day.
“We are delighted with this trend and we want to keep encouraging more people to leave their cars and take the train, so we have been expanding these facilities wherever possible.
“Land availability can be a barrier to expansion but at Four Oaks we have got around that by building upwards.
“I would like to congratulate all concerned in designing the solution and getting the job completed so quickly. A job well done.”
The extra spaces are expected to take a further 32,000 commuter car journeys off local roads each year.
