Great Western Railway has announced plans to expand its Foxall Road car park at Didcot Parkway station from its current 890-car capacity to 1,800.
Construction will be in two phases – a temporary deck over half of the existing car park by summer 2017 and then a new multi-storey edifice by summer 2018.
The total bill – £20 million to add 910 car parking spaces, funded by Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership. That works out at almost £22,000 per space. At the current charge of £6.50 per car per day, the payback will be just under ten years, provided it is full every day.
Tom Pierpoint, GWR regional development manager, commented: “Didcot Parkway is used by over three million customers every year, and offers quick and easy journeys to Oxford, Banbury, Reading and London – making it a key hub.
With London around 40 minutes away by train, a new multi-storey car park, complimenting new trains and more seats, will provide a better travelling experience for all those who use the station both now and into the future.”
A new covered footbridge at the west end of the station, which will be constructed by Network Rail, will provide a direct, covered walkway route from Foxhall Road car park to the station.
Sounds like a good idea.