Railway station car parks secure safety award for passengers peace of mind

Parking at Northern’s stations has never been safer thanks to a scheme which is helping give customers greater peace of mind.

In the past few months many station car parks have achieved the Park Mark award, meaning there are now 100 stations across the Northern network.

A Park Mark is awarded to parking facilities that pass a rigorous risk assessment conducted by the police and the British Parking Association.  The assessments include management and maintenance of the facility, ensuring that there are appropriate levels of surveillance, lighting, signage and cleanliness.  These criteria are known to reduce the opportunity for crime and create a safer environment for the motorist and their vehicle.

In line with improvements and modernisation across the network Northern has, for some time, been working to gain Park Mark awards for many stations across its network – giving customers a greater degree of security and safety when they leave their cars behind.

David Brown, Northern’s Managing Director, said: “Safety is a priority for us at Northern and whether our customers are in a car park, at a station, on a platform or on a train we want them to be safe, and feel safe.  We are working hard to improve and modernise our services and stations and are in the midst of an ambitious and wide-ranging programme that will transform rail travel in the north of England.  As part of this we want to make our stations and car parks are as safe as possible for customers and reassure those who choose to leave their cars behind that their vehicles are just as safe."

David added: “To have 100 car parks awarded is a fantastic step towards this, but we know there is more work to do and we will continue to work with our partners and local communities to push for further improvements across our network.”

Ryan Davey, British Parking Association Area Manager for the North East said: “I am delighted that Arriva Rail North has achieved Park Mark in 100 of its car parks.  This award shows the commitment by the company to ensure facilities are kept to a high standard and remain areas of low crime.

“Staff at the facilities work hard to ensure the car parks meet the standards each year. This means that rail users know when they park at these car parks, measures have been put in place to ensure the safety of both them and their vehicle.”

Mark Osmond, British Parking Association Area Manager for the North West added: “To achieve Park Mark at 100 car parks takes a lot of hard work and it’s great to see safer parking environments span two regions.  The staff show real dedication in ensuring facilities are maintained to a high standard and cater for all users.”