Petition calls for solution to fix 'nightmare' parking issue at Twyford Railway Station

A new petition is calling for a solution to fix the ‘nightmare’ parking situation at Twyford Railway Station.

Petitioner David Sleight, a former Wokingham Borough councillor, said there has been a parking issue at the station for more than 30 years.

He is calling for Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) to ‘urgently’ initiate an in-depth study to look into parking issue and work with Great Western Railway (GWR) to assess the current situation and look at ways to boost parking capacity to meet demand.

In his change.org petition, Mr Sleight said that the station provides a ‘vital lifeline for thousands of commuters’ across the Wokingham Borough and is the ‘gateway for work, education and leisure’.

He explained the extent of the parking problem – stating that there are around 400 spaces available, which are usually full by 7.15am.

Speaking to the Advertiser, David said: “Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday[s] are extremely busy, and you’ll find there’s about 30 or 40 cars parked on double yellows within the existing car park, not in proper spaces.

“Then down Hurst Road, half a mile away from the station, there’s another line of 50 or 60 cars and in... Broad Hinton there’s more cars and they’re parked there out of desperation because they can’t park at the station.

Mr Sleight added that there is a ‘tremendous, suppressed demand’ for parking at Twyford and believes that 1,000 spaces are needed to cope with the demand.

He said GWR has been trying ‘over the years to enlarge parking at Twyford’ and did previously look at the idea of a multi-storey car park.

But the railway company concluded that it ‘wasn’t viable for various reasons, and most of all the access’, Mr Sleight said.

As part of the petition, he is calling for WBC to work with GWR to ‘assess the current and future parking demand’, ‘explore proper solutions’ to expanding near the station, act ‘quickly’ on the matter and boost connections with buses and cycling options.

“We’re asking for Wokingham Borough to lead a proper, in-depth study to look at the whole parking issue and to try to identify where and how many [spaces are needed].

“There is a possibility of land on the south side and that is what needs examining, together with...how it’s paid for,” Mr Sleight added.

The petition had more than 785 signatures at the time of going to press and Mr Sleight has encouraged anyone affected by parking issues at the station to sign.

A spokesperson for GWR said: “We are working closely with partners including Network Rail and Wokingham Borough Council on wider plans to increase the number of parking spaces available at Twyford, the first step of which is to secure funding and relevant permissions to do so.

“We have also funded Wokingham Council to carry out passenger surveys at the station to understand demand and wider travel patterns to/from Twyford station.”

Wokingham Borough Council was contacted for comment.

The petition entitled Support Additional Parking at Twyford Station, can be viewed at: https://www.change.org/p/support-additional-parking-at-twyford-station