UK: London Northwestern Railway has launched a pilot lift-sharing scheme at Tring station, where accessibility improvement works beings have led to a temporary reduction in car parking capacity.
Passengers can use the wmtrains.liftshare.com website to connect with people who drive on similar routes to the station, which is around 3 km from the town centre. They can then come to a private arrangement to split the cost of fuel and parking at times to suit their circumstances.
‘We know the experience of travelling by train does not start and end at the station, and that is why we are working hard to improve the last mile for our customers’, said Jon Harris, the operator’s Integration, Accessibility & Development Manager. ‘More than a third of people who completed a recent travel survey at Tring expressed an interest in joining a car-sharing scheme. The support from the town and parish councils, as well as the local authorities, has been fantastic and already the scheme is being promoted at a grass roots level.’
Further station car share arrangements are planned over the next 12 months, targeting stations with larger car parks or where local circumstances such as building works may temporarily limit the number of parking spaces.
‘By sharing transport to the station passengers can save a significant amount of money and reduce their carbon footprint as well as meeting new people’, said Harris.
