‘I visited Cambs’ newest car park – and there were just five other cars’

A free car park sounds like an incredible promise, especially if you've ever visited Cambridge by car. So you'd expect any free car park to be in high demand, especially if it serves a railway station.

I visited the new car park at Manea station which opened on August 7 and found it almost deserted. Though the car park boasts 100 parking spaces, disabled bays, and a cycle shelter, my car took the total of those parked to six when I arrived.

The car park was paid for out of a £9.5million sum funded by Cambridgeshire^[1] and Peterborough's Combined Authority as part of a 'Railway Stations Masterplans scheme' by Fenland District Council. The car park itself cost just under £1million – £985,933.15, to be precise.

The council are now encouraging people to use the car park. Based on my weekday visit, it's clear that people do need some encouragement.

The emptiness when I arrived felt very stark, especially given that it was the middle of the day. You certainly wouldn't struggle to find a space in the sea of empty bays.

While I was there, another car came in and the people in it got out – only to return and drive off 10 minutes later. Then, a small van entered, only to turn around and leave instantly.

These weren't exactly promising developments. Perhaps if there was more on offer in Manea in the way of shops and attractions – no disrespect to the village – there would be more demand for a car park so people could visit.

The station itself is essentially just two platforms with a waiting room, which is fine if that's all is needed. Manea has always struck me as a quiet station, a sentiment backed up by data.

Statistics from the Office of Rail and Road show 16,192 people used the station in 2021/22 – over the course of a year, that's 44 people per day. Obviously there will be some variation over weekdays and weekends, as well as holidays, but that doesn't seem like enough passengers to warrant such a large car park.

The mentality has clearly been "build it and they will come". Cllr Chris Seaton, portfolio holder for transport, said as much: "We've very intentionally created enough parking capacity to exceed current use of Manea station – a long term vision we've consistently expressed during the years of work it has taken to secure the land, funding and infrastructure for the car park."

The car park is intended to create demand for increased and improved rail services for Fenland. By having a car park, Cllr Seaton said, more people will be able to use the station than just those who could walk or get public transport to it.

I hope that is the case and that more people will use the car park, particularly after an 'official' opening Fenland District Council said will come soon. Otherwise, people will question what the point of building it was.

References

1. ^{^} Cambridgeshire (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Former Cambridge University chef opens her own Sri Lankan restaurant (www.cambridge-news.co.uk)