New 200-space car park unveiled at Harborough railway station

A new 200-space car park has been opened at Market Harborough railway station as part of a £53 million upgrade.
The new car park.The new car park.
The new car park.

The extension was unveiled at the popular mainline hub on Sunday (Dec 15) as the massive facelift heads towards 2020.

The new facility increases the number of slots available for commuters at the increasingly-busy station to 500.

Harborough station has been transformed as part of the Midland Main Line Upgrade throughout this year.

The car park extension is a major milestone as the ambitious blueprint is completed next year.

Gavin Crook, principal programme sponsor for Network Rail, said: “The opening of this car park will see the number of spaces available for passengers vastly increase, making travelling to and from the station much easier.”

Network Rail is now working to extend platform two.

That will allow longer trains with more seats to call there.

Next year further improvements will be carried out to customer toilets and the waiting room on platform one.

A secure cycle hub will also be added as more and more cyclists bike to the station.

The new car park is part of a much bigger Network Rail scheme.

This includes work to straighten the track through the station, enabling trains to travel through at higher speeds.

A new footbridge and lifts have also been built, making both platforms fully accessible and opening up travel opportunities for more travellers.

Mr Crook added: “A vast amount of work has taken place at Market Harborough station, which is providing real benefits.

“We’d like to thank station users for their patience whilst this work took place.”

Neil Grabham, customer service director for East Midlands Railway, said: “We have been working alongside Network Rail to deliver a vastly-improved Market Harborough station.

“We are really pleased the new larger customer car park is now open.

“The additional 200 car park spaces will greatly benefit our passengers that travel to and from the station.

“We’d like to thank our passengers for their patience whilst the improvement works have been taking place.”

Steve Jones, chairman of Harborough Rail Users, told the Harborough Mail: “We welcome this new car park – it’s a major improvement on the existing facility.

“It’s excellent news - both for rail commuters and nearby residents.”

He said the old car park was often jampacked by 8am on weekdays.

“As a result an increasing number of drivers spilled out and parked on streets in and around the station, clogging them up,” said Steve.

“It’s taken a while to build this new extension since the track was moved out of the way to create the space last May and June.

“But it will be well worth it because it’s going to be a very positive move.”