Fine Gael TD for Cork East, David Stanton has welcomed the introduction of free parking at all East Cork railway stations. Iarnrod Eireann has announced that rail commuters can now park their car free of charge all year until 31st December 2013 with a possibility of free parking being extended beyond 2013 if train usage increases.
“I am very pleased that Iarnrod Eireann has decided to remove parking fees from all the stations on the Midleton and Cobh rail lines. This decision follows their removal of parking charges in December 2012 to encourage people to use the train service over the Christmas period.
“For some time I have been lobbying Iarnrod Eireann to bring in free parking at the East Cork rail stations as I believe it will encourage people to use public transport. As a regular train user since the opening of the Midleton to Cork Line, I noticed that the large car parks in the stations were normally quite empty with train users opting to park outside the stations where they would not be charged. Whenever the car parking charges were lifted by Iarnrod Eireann, as they have been on a number of occasions in the past, car parks were used.
“Any initiative which encourages the use of public transport should be support. In addition to being more environmentally friendly, people can also make considerable savings given the high cost of petrol and general cost of motoring. There is also a tax saver scheme for rail commuters which can give considerable savings on annual transport costs details of which can be found at www.taxsaver.ie
“I congratulate Iarnrod Eireann on their decision to introduce free parking across East Cork and I hope it is a success,” concluded Deputy Stanton.
