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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To not understand where people park overnight (when getting a train)?

109 replies

dustofneptune · 10/08/2023 20:27

We just moved from a city to a village a few weeks ago. (Cue "you're not in Kansas anymore" stupidity on our part...)

We're a 15min drive from the nearest mainline station (Moreton-in-Marsh, if it helps).

All good, but we have a 3-day trip to London coming up - and now we're wondering... errmm... what do we do with the car?? We're so used to just walking to the station or getting an Uber, this didn't even cross our minds until today.

If you live a drive away from a train station - how do you normally navigate it if you're going away for a night or longer?

Can you leave a car at a station for a few days? Or is that a terrible idea / not allowed?

Do you normally just pre-book a taxi instead? We've been quoted £60 round-trip by local firms! (Double what the return train tickets cost!) 😮

We've tried JustPark, but nothing comes up.

There are two buses per day to the station (lol) - but the timings are hours away from our booked train times. And we don't know if these buses are real buses or the mythical fabricated village buses that people talk about on here.

Are we missing something? (Aside from braincells...)

TLDR - What the flip do people do with their cars when they drive to a train station and are going to be away for a few nights?

OP posts:

PriamFarrl · 11/08/2023 10:14

CMOTDibbler · 10/08/2023 20:34

BTW, LOL at the Uber suggestions. We can't even get a taxi reliably, def no Uber round here

I know. I’m in a big town and we don’t have Uber. It’s not the universal thing some people think it is.

usernother · 11/08/2023 10:17

@PriamFarrl I know. I’m in a big town and we don’t have Uber. It’s not the universal thing some people think it is.

It's not, but taxis are in most places. I hate Uber and never use them. I use local taxi companies.

AndIKnewYouMeantIt · 11/08/2023 10:20

Kweeky · 11/08/2023 08:23

That's my point really - things should change. We have a large station 35 miles away - apart from the drive there you have to trek slowly through the city to the centre, passing through innumerable traffic lights adding more time to your journey to the station and the risk of more possible holdups. So to be sure of being there on time you have to leave very early.
Once at the station (possibly early) there is nowhere comfortable to sit or eat.
On top of that I doubt I'd leave my car in the car park overnight as it is the city centre where all the pubs and clubs are.
Most stations are in the city centre which was suitable in Edwardian times.
Instead I drive much further to an airport (about 85 miles away) on motorway and park in their safe car park and eat at their many eating places or shop whilst I wait in comfort though cause more pollution of course.

Show quote history

I sometimes get the Bristol to Birmingham train, and Bristol is 35 miles away. I wouldn't drive to Bristol Temple Meads - I just go to my nearest station and do 30 minutes from there.

I'm genuinely baffled that you drive 85 miles to park in order to get a train because you're frightened of pubs. Airport parking is extortionate.

Original poster

dustofneptune · 11/08/2023 10:24

Sheranovermytoes · 10/08/2023 22:10

Loads of free parking round the corner on Fosse Way and Corder Lane.

Thank you!!

OP posts:

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 11/08/2023 10:31

My nearest is £6/day , £28/week with a max limit of 7 days .

I wouldn't want to leave my motor overnight there TBH

Original poster

dustofneptune · 11/08/2023 10:32

User478 · 10/08/2023 23:53

Next time get on at Honeyborne, free carpark.

Thank you! That's good advice!

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 11/08/2023 10:34

Kweeky · 10/08/2023 20:50

I think trains should be usable from a train port, like an airport - so build it next to a motorway with safe parking like an airport. My nearest stations 8 and 15 miles away, have pubs nearby, and there is a risk idiots could damage cars.
So I park in a 'nice' part of town at the side of the road and walk to the car park if I'm going away for any length of time.

What?! Why would you do this - so people without cars can't use the train? What a bizarre suggestion.

There are buses to train stations in most medium sized towns and if you're really rural then there will be a long stay car park at the train station, nothing "unsafe" about it There should be CCTV on the car park to deter vandalism anyway.

Sunnytomorrow · 11/08/2023 10:47

My parents in a semi-rural area and always asked a neighbour to drive them to the train station or airport. They reciprocate for their neighbours.

Cheaper than a taxi and means that their own car sits on the drive of their house which they prefer as they don’t want to advertise the fact that their house is unoccupied.

Flossflower · 17/08/2023 16:01

We enquired about this at the station. You buy tickets for however many days you want and they told us to park it where the security camera had a very good view. They told us where.

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