Having adequate car parking at a train station is vital for train companies wishing to compete with their air rivals.
Many corporate travellers (I refer to those who work outside city centres) may wish to drive and park before they travel.
London excepted, they might find public transport inconvenient or non-existent.
So it is good to know that LNER is spending £3.7 million on enlarging the car parking spaces it can provide at Durham.
From this month there will be an additional 147 spaces.
This is significant because Durham is located on the ECML (East Coast Mainline) so it’s possible to take trains either North or South.
Durham also lies within the catchment area of Teeside airport which recently restarted a route to London.
So for the corporate market (when it returns to normal) would consider more parking space as a boon.
Says LNER’s MD David Horne, “As the car parking stands within a conservation area and within sight of the World Heritage Site of Durham Cathedral and Castle, great care has been taken with its aesthetic appearance.”
For much of the day there is an hourly direct LNER train to London Kings Cross. Journey time is three hours. Otherwise there are indirect services involving an en route change at York for example.
Heading North there’s a similar frequency to Edinburgh. Here, the journey time direct to the Scottish capital is around 1 hour 50 mins.
However, LNER prices Durham car parking in line with demand.
The Monday to Friday daily off-peak rate from 0930 is £5 per day. But in the daily peak (before 0930) expect to pay £14.50. A long weekend rate (Friday after 0930 to anytime Monday) is £12.
