05/03/2024
A train operator has shut down rumours that customers will be fined if they stop to drop off or pick up passengers at in Maidenhead Railway Station forecourt car park.
A train operator has shut down rumours that it has introduced Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at Maidenhead Station forecourt.
At the weekend, rumours circulated on social media that ANPR cameras were being installed in the station forecourt car park and that, from this week, people would be fined if they stopped to pick up or drop off passengers.
One resident told the Advertiser that it was a ‘travesty of justice’.
But while Great Western Railway (GWR) said this week that the rumours were not true, it clarified the front of the station has never had a designated drop-off area – despite it being used by many residents for this purpose.
A spokesman for GWR, which manages the station, said that there are no ANPR cameras on the forecourt but these cameras have been in operation at Silco Drive since March/April 2023, since the car park came back into use.
But he said the policy for all of GWR’s station car parks is to give customers a 20-minute period (plus a grace period) to pick up and drop off passengers free of charge.
Residents called for GWR to clarify where drivers are allowed to pick up and drop off because of the various parking restrictions on the forecourt, including double yellow lines and bollards with ‘no parking’ signs on them.
The GWR spokesman confirmed that, following the remodelling of the forecourt, completed in 2021, the total number of car parking spaces was reduced, but there has never been a designated drop-off area.
He added that since 2021 drop-off and pick up has been at the railway’s car parks in Shoppenhangers Road, Stafferton Way and Silco Drive which all have 20-minute free parking.
Concerns were raised by residents about how far the car parks were from the station, particularly for vulnerable people and those with children, luggage and pushchairs.
The quickest route to Silco Drive, for instance, is down a narrow alley running alongside the station.
The spokesman said the forecourt has six blue badge spaces currently and GWR is looking at increasing this number in the future to aid those which accessibility needs.
There are currently no plans to carry out any further changes to the forecourt in either the area managed by the railway or the area managed by the Royal Borough, the spokesman added.
He reiterated that GWR has ‘no intention of introducing charges’ for parking for 20 minutes or less and that its car park managers Apcoa also has a grace period where drivers may have to wait beyond this.
6.30pm - This article has been updated.