Park & Ride on the Merseyrail

[North-Valiant]

Hi all, I'm staying in Liverpool one night but don't want to drive in to Liverpool and park, so was hoping to leave my car somewhere in Birkenhead overnight. What station am I best parking at, preferably free and safe?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Hi all, I'm staying in Liverpool one night but don't want to drive in to Liverpool and park, so was hoping to leave my car somewhere in Birkenhead overnight. What station am I best parking at, preferably free and safe?

Overnight parking is not permitted at any Merseyrail station, unfortunately. (I believe this is a stupid policy, as driving to the station, having a drink, taxi back from the station and get the car in the morning is a very common use case, I've done it at Bletchley many times). This is enforced. I am not totally sure about the Northern stations within Merseyside, but I think it's a PTE policy - can anyone else clarify?

You may want to have a look at Parkopedia (en.parkopedia.co.uk) to compare non-railway options in the area (noting that it's not always correct but mostly is).

If you don't mind paying and are travelling from the south, Runcorn could be an option, though not necessarily much cheaper than those within the city. This is an Avanti station costing £12 per day weekdays and £4 per day weekends. There's also an Avanti car park at Wigan North Western which could be an option. But to be honest there is plenty of parking inside Liverpool so you may just want to drive in, though it's not that cheap.

 

[L401CJF]

Hi all, I'm staying in Liverpool one night but don't want to drive in to Liverpool and park, so was hoping to leave my car somewhere in Birkenhead overnight. What station am I best parking at, preferably free and safe?

Birkenhead North has a massive free park and ride car park. I've used it a few times and never had any issues.

A lot of their station car parks say no overnight parking (unsure about Birkenhead North?), however people do leave their cars overnight and never had any issues when I've done it myself.

Edit- the post above was posted while i was writing this, if overnight parking is enforced maybe I have just been lucky?

Quite a way from Birkenhead but Hooton station has a £1 daily charge car park operated by Cheshire West with no overnight restriction, it just charges you £2 when you pay the next day..

 

[Bletchleyite]

Birkenhead North has a massive free park and ride car park. I've used it a few times and never had any issues.

A lot of their station car parks say no overnight parking (unsure about Birkenhead North?), however people do leave their cars overnight and never had any issues when I've done it myself.

This is enforced randomly, so I would not recommend doing this. I have certainly known people get a ticket and it's been discussed here before. It's a standard policy at all Merseyrail stations.

Signs saying no overnight parking can be seen if you look at the entrance on Google Maps.

Quite a way from Birkenhead but Hooton station has a £1 daily charge car park operated by Cheshire West with no overnight restriction, it just charges you £2 when you pay the next day..

That's not a bad idea. I guess what you want to find is Council car parks near stations rather than station ones.

It's a stupid policy that is tantamount to encouraging drink-driving. I can understand the car parks being locked overnight, but that's different.

 

[Haywain]

It's a stupid policy that is tantamount to encouraging drink-driving

Theonly people respondible for drink driving are the people who do it.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Theonly people respondible for drink driving are the people who do it.

I think it is necessary, like with other bad things like murder, to differentiate between whether something can be justified or whether it can be explained. They are very often not the same thing.

Drink driving can never be justified. Murder can never be justified. (If someone's killed due to the drink driving, they can go quite closely together). Both are despicable acts.

However, both can be explained, and certain designs to the systems around us can make them more likely to occur. Clearly we do not want this to happen.

With regard to this case, you know people who have been drinking have impaired judgement, so you want to make it easy for them to make the right choice so they don't make the wrong one and drive having ended up being goaded into a few pints by friends.

Therefore, overnight parking should be permitted at all railway station and pub car parks without exception (and it should be possible, without penalty, to pay for any extra time necessary provided it is done before leaving, as one can via the likes of RingGo), as that encourages people to make the right choice - to leave the car and return for it tomorrow.

Systems like this need to be designed to help people make the right choice - not to drink-drive, to ensure they have a ticket before boarding the train, not to walk across the track etc.

 

[North-Valiant]

So Hooton is my best bet?

 

[Bletchleyite]

So Hooton is my best bet?

It sounds like it's the cheapest one, though I can't comment on the car park itself as I've not used it.

Your car is probably going to be more secure there than Birkenhead too, I'd imagine!

Chester is another (chargeable) possibility, it's a TfW station and does allow overnight parking, I've done so. More expensive than Hooton by the sounds of it though.

 

[L401CJF]

So Hooton is my best bet?

I use Hooton regularly with it being my local park and ride, I have used it multiple times overnight. Never had any issues there, the car is never alone even over night, its a big car park and serves the cut off areas of Willaston, Neston etc so is well used - but you're guaranteed a space.

Collect a ticket from the barrier on arrival and pay at the machine when you return. Its £1 per day so if you stay overnight it'll charge you £2. Takes both cash and contactless/chip pin payment.

Do not lose the ticket though, I think the lost ticket fee is something daft like £70!

 

[Llanigraham]

There appears to be quite safe parking around several of the stations further out, like Hoylake.

 

[North-Valiant]

Someone I work with has just suggested Newton-le-Willows?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Someone I work with has just suggested Newton-le-Willows?

On Google Maps this has "no overnight parking" on the sign but it's been partly obscured:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Not sure I'd take the chance?

 

[North-Valiant]

On Google Maps this has "no overnight parking" on the sign but it's been partly obscured:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Not sure I'd take the chance?

I've just done the same lol, shame because it's dead easy to get to

 

[Class800]

Theonly people respondible for drink driving are the people who do it.

Not the people who cause it by imposing overnight parking bans, stopping buses early? A bit pie in the sky really

 

[Merseysider]

NCP Birkenhead is £2.45 for 24 hours, has 24 hour access and is dead easy to get to. It's literally on the doorstep of Hamilton Square.

Birkenhead John Street

www.ncp.co.uk

There's also a second one, same prices:

Birkenhead Bridge Street

www.ncp.co.uk

That said, I have a suspicion one or both are outdoors, with CCTV but not staffed, so if you're driving a Jag or something fancy I wouldn't leave it there... areas like Hoylake / West Kirby / Hooton are a litte less "birko"

 

[Vespa]

Hooton is about 28 minutes by train, not too far but far enough away for troublemakers to target.

 

[Haywain]

Not the people who cause it by imposing overnight parking bans, stopping buses early? A bit pie in the sky really

No.

 

[bristollh]

On Google Maps this has "no overnight parking" on the sign but it's been partly obscured:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

Not sure I'd take the chance?

A recently put-up paper notice in the ticket office at Newton-le-Willows advises that overnight parking is allowed for rail users. I've done it a couple of times without issue.

Jeff

 

[Djgr]

There is a free council car park where you can park overnight 2 minutes walk from Bebington Station. If you look at Google Maps it is on the corner of Barlow Avenue.

 

[Pacef8]

If your coming all that way come to port sunlight and i will point our camera at your car.

 

[ChrisC]

I don’t drive a really expensive car but my concern would always be the safety of the car and will it still be there when I return the next day. Unless it’s a real secure station car park with CCTV I wouldn’t leave my car overnight in a station car park but find on street parking in a nice residential area with no parking restrictions.o Even if it means walking 10 minutes to the station I would rather do that. Google Earth can be very useful for searching for a safe looking street. There must be some quite safe streets within a few minutes walk of stations like West Kirby and Hoylake. A completely different area but Hightown, Formby and Freshfields have some very nice streets not too far from the station. If you are only leaving it there one night local residents don’t get suspicious of a strange unknown car parked on their street.

 

[Bevan Price]

I don’t drive a really expensive car but my concern would always be the safety of the car and will it still be there when I return the next day. Unless it’s a real secure station car park with CCTV I wouldn’t leave my car overnight in a station car park but find on street parking in a nice residential area with no parking restrictions.o Even if it means walking 10 minutes to the station I would rather do that. Google Earth can be very useful for searching for a safe looking street. There must be some quite safe streets within a few minutes walk of stations like West Kirby and Hoylake. A completely different area but Hightown, Formby and Freshfields have some very nice streets not too far from the station. If you are only leaving it there one night local residents don’t get suspicious of a strange unknown car parked on their street.

Provided you avoid Market Days (currently Thursday Night/Friday & Friday Night/Saturday), there is free parking on Earlestown Market Place, with one end opposite to the local Police Station. Nowhere is 100% secure, as the police may all be out on patrol for part of the time. It is about 5 minutes walk from Earlestown station.