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£2.1m car park extension officially opened at Manningtree station

23 Jun 2009

The £2.1m extension to the car park at National Express East Anglia’s Manningtree station is to be officially opened on Friday 26 June by Bernard Jenkin MP for North Essex.

The newly-constructed extension has provided a new deck to the existing car park and 150 extra parking spaces at this busy station. Construction work began last autumn and was carried out in two phases to minimise the inconvenience to customers while the works took place. Parking for season ticket holders was prioritised during the construction programme with the project completed this spring. The overall parking capacity at Manningtree has been increased by a third with accommodation now available for 600 vehicles.

Financed in conjunction with Network Rail, construction work was carried out by Bourne Parking a company with considerable experience of such projects including construction of the modern car park at Ipswich station. 

Andrew Goodrum, Customer Service Director, National Express East Anglia commented: “The project to invest in significantly improved car parking facilities at Manningtree has gone extremely well and meets one of our key franchise commitments to increase the number of parking spaces at this busy station. I am grateful to our partners Network Rail, Bourne Parking and local stakeholders including Tendring District Council for their support on the development of the scheme, and for the co-operation of our customers during the construction.”

Chris Curtis, Route Enhancement Manager, Network Rail, said: "More passengers are now travelling by train than ever before and the demand for rail travel is set to continue to rise. We predict that a large proportion of these extra passengers will drive to the station, so it's good news that we've been able to increase the number of spaces available at Manningtree."

Andre Van Heerden, Managing Director, Bourne Parking said: "Bourne Parking's involvement from the outset of the project allowed us to fully understand the requirements of National Express and the needs of the station, especially the logistics in dealing with commuters and the phased construction of the car park.

“The professional approach of both National Express and the Bourne Parking site team ensured the project was completed ahead of programme and without incident."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

PHOTOCALL - The car park extension will be officially opened by Bernard Jenkin MP at 13.00 on Friday 26 June, photographers, film crews and reporters are welcome to attend.

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For further information about this press release, please ring the National Express East Anglia Press Office on 0207 549 5966.