Train station car parks to get integrated parking and charging payments

By James Attwood

7 Jul 2022

There are some aspects of plugging in an electric vehicle at a public charge points that are just plain annoying – such as having to pay for your parking and charging separately. It’s a bit of a time-consuming faff, especially if you’re late for a train.

Brilliantly, parking firm APCOA has found a way to simplify the process, by integrating the payment systems for charging and parking in the car parks it operates on behalf of National Rail.

Yes, you'll still have to pay for parking and charging, but it's still a small step that will make life a little bit easier.

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There are 450 EV fast chargers provided by Compleo in APCOA car parks managed on behalf of National Rail at train stations in the UK. And the firm has now integrated parking and EV charging into its APCOA Connect app, so you can add both in a single payment.

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The service is currently offered at Leeds, Manchester Piccadilly and Reading stations, and will be extended to Edinburgh Waverley, Welwyn Garden City and Birmingham New Street in July.

Jo Lewington, Network Rail’s environment and sustainability chief, said: “We hope that by providing affordable, efficient and reliable charging points we can encourage more electric vehicles onto the road and help promote healthier air in and around our stations.”

APCOA says that it is aiming to “rapidly increase” the number of EV chargers offered in car parks that it operates.

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