Commuters travelling by train are using their cars to reach the stations.

But what about parking at the stations? Ian Lewis looks at how the spaces are being snapped up.

EVERY DAY thousands of commuters let the train take the strain rather than battling through congested roads to reach Bradford and Leeds.

But for many the journey into work on the Airedale and Wharfedale railway lines still begins by car and they have to rely on finding parking space at or near the stations they travel into the cities from.

But with increasing numbers using the stations how easy is it for those who have to use their cars to find somewhere to park?

Tim Calow, chairman of the Aire Valley Rail Users Group, said: "The number of passengers has been going up very sharply over the last few years - there's been about a ten per cent rise over the last year and there are now about 3,000 passengers an hour during peak times going into Leeds and Bradford from the Airedale and Wharfedale lines - which is starting to put pressure on car parking spaces.

"Most places in the country do charge but Metro's policy is to provide free parking at stations which attracts a lot of people.

"It's a good policy but it's a bit of a two-edged thing because although it's an incentive for people to use the trains it also encourages people to come to the stations in their cars when they otherwise might not.

"Parking is something we're keeping our eye on - better integrated public transport with better bus links to stations would help a lot of people and secure lockers for cyclists at most stations is very useful but for practical reasons some people will always have to drive to stations to make any use of trains.

"Metro's looking at a scheme to improve the bus services to and from Steeton & Silsden station which would certainly help. Parking was a big problem there but the car park's just been extended and there haven't been any complaints recently.''

Mr Calow said most complaints about lack of car parking concerned the facilities at Shipley.

He said: "People have been saying unless you get there very early in the morning then the spaces just aren't available.

"Space is limited there but they were looking at providing a two-storey parking facililty which I suspect might be the best solution.''

Mr Calow said that parking could become an issue at Saltaire, which does not have a station car park, if Bradford Council's plans to introduce pay and display parking - with a £3 charge for over five hours - in the public car parks at Caroline Street and Exhibition Road go ahead.

Commenting on stations elsewhere on the Airedale line he said: "It's a bit limited at Bingley although there haven't been any complaints and Crossflatts does have space and is a good spot to get to.

"Keighley has a reasonable amount of space and there's a decent bus service going past the station.

"I'm not aware of there being a problem at Frizinghall but space at Cononley in North Yorkshire and at Skipton, where you have to pay, is beginning to get tight but not quite at the same level as Shipley.''

Councillor Phil Thornton (Lab, Shipley East), chairman of Bradford Council's highways sub-committee, said: "Without a doubt places like Shipley station do get overparked - we want to encourage more people to use other forms of transport rather than relying solely on the car but we recognise some need their cars to get to the stations so if we want more people to use the trains we need to give them the facilities to enable them to do it.''

Howard Keal, spokseman for train operators Northern Spirit, said: "We're seeing a significant increase in the number of people travelling with us throughout West Yorkshire - there's already a significant demand for spaces in car parks and we're expecting that to continue to grow.

"There is evidence that many people live near stations but nevertheless use their cars to drive to them and we're trying to encourage those people to walk or cycle which will help ease the situation.

"We've also been carrying out studies on car parking at stations on the Airedale and Wharfedale lines and they've shown there are various opportunities to increase the level of parking and where possible we're pursuing schemes in association with Metro.''

Mr Keal said work on a project to use undeveloped land at Shipley station to increase the number of parking spaces from 132 to 182 was due to begin by April and should be completed during the summer.

He added: "There's been a big increase in the number of people using the station and we're looking to plan for even more growth.

"Various other options - one to provide a second deck of car parking and another to possibly develop land at the back of Platform 4 which could each provide more than 100 new spaces - are being discussed with Metro to see how they could be funded and carried forward.

"Parking at Menston is being more than doubled to about 100 spaces as part of a project which also includes a new ticket office and waiting room improvements and Guiseley's car park will provide 90 spaces.

"Saltaire's meant to be very much a local, walk and ride station - there isn't anywhere available to create a car park and where people did want to drive the likelihood is they would go to Shipley.''

A spokesman for Metro, the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive, said it had been allocated £550,000 a year for the next three years from the Government's Rural Bus Initiative to introduce new services to link buses and trains.

She said it was hoped to put plans to provide services to link Addingham and Airedale General Hospital with Steeton & Silsden station and Otley and Pool with Menston out to tender early next year.

Helen Kidman, who chairs the Wharfedale Rail Users Group, said she welcomed the improvements planned for Menston and Guiseley but added: "Due to increased passenger numbers, which I applaud, there are problems with parking at Ilkley and Ben Rhydding.

"It would be nice if people could walk to the stations but some people live too far away to do that.

"The solution would be to have an integrated transport plan for Wharfedale - at the moment there are lots of service providers doing their own thing but they're not properly integrated.''

She added that the group was working to make people more aware of the station at Baildon but said with very tight restrictions on parking there passengers should avoid taking their cars.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.