Shrewsbury railway station car parking charge hike
Car parking charges have increased at Shrewsbury Railway Station by almost five per cent.
Changes brought in by Arriva Trains Wales last month have added 20p to the cost of a daily ticket and 80p to a weekly ticket.
But no increases have been introduced by London Midland at Telford Railway Station, where daily fees were reduced last year.
It comes after a report by the Transport Salaried Staffs Association said passengers across the country were suffering "daylight robbery" as they returned to work after the festive break to be hit by rises in travel.
The new charge at Shrewsbury Railway Station came into force on December 16 and has seen the cost of daily parking at the NCP-run Howard Street car park go up from £4.20 to £4.40. The cost of a weekly ticket has risen from £16.80 to £17.60.
A spokesman for Arriva Trains Wales said the 4.76 per cent increase was "below average compared with the rest of our stations".The last parking charge rise at Shrewsbury was in July 2012.
But London Midland dropped their daily fees at Telford Railway Station last year, as they fell slightly from £5.20 to £5. The weekly rates have been frozen at £17.
The increase at Shrewsbury Railway Station car park comes as train ticket prices across the county rose at the start of the year.
In Shropshire passengers faced rises in the cost of season tickets on all major routes. But the hikes were considerably lower than 2013's fare increases. A season ticket between Shrewsbury and Chester went up by more than £100 last year – more than a 5.3 per cent increase – but this year saw an increase of £52, or 2.4 per cent.
The TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: "This is little more than daylight robbery by the private rail firms. Passengers have been caught in the crossfire because bosses are determined to get around the Government's cap of 3.1 per cent on rail fare rises."
