Parking now even safer at Northern stations

Park Mark – the Safer Parking Scheme – provides a national standard for UK car parks that have low crime and measures in place to help ensure the safety of people and vehicles.

In line with improvements and modernisation across the network Northern has, for some time, been working to gain Park Mark accreditation for many stations across its network – giving customers a greater degree of safety when they leave their cars behind.

In the past few months 19 stations have been handed Park Mark accreditation, meaning there are now 38 stations across the Northern network which have passed the rigorous assessment process.

Stephen Green, Northern’s Travel Integration and Accessibility Manager, said: “Safety is priority for Northern and whether our customers are in a car park, at a station, on a platform or on a train we want them to be safe, and feel safe.

“We are working hard to improve and modernise our services and stations and are committed to an ambitious and wide-ranging programme that will transform rail travel in the north of England.

“As part of this we want to make our stations and car parks are as safe as possible for customers and reassure those who choose to leave their cars behind that their vehicles are just as safe.

Gaining Park Mark accreditation means a car park has been independently assessed by specialists from the police and has been shown to have strong management practices and security measures that actively reduce crime – meaning that those who park in Northern’s accredited sites are leaving their cars in some of the safest spaces in the UK.

Stephen added: “To have 40 car parks that have already been accredited is a fantastic step towards this, but we know there is more work to do and we will continue to work with our partners and local communities to push for further improvements across our network.”

Notes to editors

The station car parks which have been awarded Park Mark status are as follows:

Accrington, Ashton under Lyne, Barrow in Furness, Beverley, Blackburn (Boulevard), Bridlington Burnley Manchester Road, Buxton, Carnforth, Chorley, Crossflatts, Eaglescliffe, Garforth, Grange Over Sands, Goole, Guide Bridge, Harrogate long stay, Harrogate short stay, Hexham (main), Hexham (rear), Horwich Parkway, Lostock Parkway, Morpeth, Poynton, Redcar Central, Rotherham Central, Sandbach, Skipton, Sowerby Bridge, St Helens Central, Todmorden, Ulverston, Wakefield Kirkgate, Warrington Central, Whitby, Wilmslow, Windermere, Worksop (main), Worksop (overflow).