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Train Station Parking Report
Updated: Thursday, 14 March 2024
How much does it cost to park at the world’s busiest train stations?
Trains connect us to each end of the country, with millions of commuters relying on rail services for everything from their commute to work, travelling to the airport, reuniting with friends, and much more. But just how costly is it to park at some of the nation’s busiest train stations?
Commuters far and wide on their way to work or on business trips will understand the importance of reliable and on-time public transport. However, people who don’t have access to nearby rail networks may use their car instead. This is why car finance is often chosen by those who want the independence and freedom of owning their car without paying a lump sum.
Many tourists travel by train to their favourite European destinations for convenience or prefer eco-friendly transport, so how does parking at major European stations compare? By looking at the cost of a day’s parking at each of these stations, we will rank them against a list of the UK’s and Europe’s biggest and busiest railway stations.
The most expensive train station car parks in the UK
1. Glasgow Central, parking price for 8 hours: £24.95
Glasgow Central Station recorded the highest daily parking fee, costing £24.95 for an 8 hour stay on a weekday.
The Scottish transport hub is not as busy as other city stations; with just over 15.3 million passengers recorded in 2022, it is the 3rd busiest station on our list. However, Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and the third largest in the UK, so its transport links connect to many Scottish towns.
1. Moorfields, Liverpool, parking price for 8 hours: £24.95
Moorfields Railway Station is an underground railway in the centre of Liverpool. According to the National Car Parks website, parking here for six to 24 hours costs £24.95, putting it in joint first place with Glasgow Central’s fare.
Liverpool Moorfields sees over 4.8 million passengers annually and is the 15th busiest train station on our list. It is the third-busiest station on the Merseyrail network, behind Central and Lime Street.
3. Leeds, parking price for 8 hours: £22.50
Leeds Railway Station is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. According to the APCOA Parking website, to park in the long-stay car park, you can expect a price of up to £22.50 for up to a 24-hour stay. Leeds Station sees over 19.2 million visitors annually, making it the second busiest station in our findings.
The cheapest train station car parks in the UK
1. Maidenhead, parking price for 8 hours: £5.40
Maidenhead railway station serves the market town of Maidenhead, Berkshire. Maidenhead recorded the cheapest parking fare at its station, priced at just £5.40 per day. Maidenhead sees around 2.4 million passengers annually, and it is 24 miles down the line from London Paddington station.
2. Eastbourne, parking price for 8 hours: £6.60
Eastbourne Railway Station serves the seaside town of Eastbourne in East Sussex on the East Coastway Line. Eastbourne recorded the second-cheapest parking fare, priced at just £6.60 for the day. Eastbourne Station saw almost 2.7 million annual visitors by the end of 2022 and is a connecting station with other towns and cities along the south coast, including direct services to Brighton, Hastings, and Ashford.
3. Ashford International, parking price for 8 hours: £6.70
Ashford International Railway Station placed third for the cheapest train station parking in the UK, with a daily rate of £6.70. Ashford International connects several railway lines, including High Speed 1 and the South Eastern Main Line. There were approximately 2.6 million annual passengers in 2022.
London’s most expensive train station car parks
1. St Pancras, parking price for 8 hours: £32.50
St Pancras Railway Station recorded the highest-priced fare for an 8 hour stay over any other rail station in London. St Pancras is a major Central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. As you may expect, parking in Central London isn’t cheap, and according to the station’s website, parking for between 6 to 12 hours costs £32.50.
2. Paddington, parking price for 8 hours: £28.00
Paddington is a London railway station and London Underground station complex in the Paddington area. Paddington Station has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great Western Railway since 1838.
You can expect to pay £28 at Paddington’s busy, urban location, as it is more expensive to park than those in less busy areas, coupled with a station usage of over 23.8 million passengers in 2022.
3. London Victoria, parking price for 8 hours: £26.50
London Victoria, also known as Victoria Station, is a Central London railway terminus with a connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster.
Named after the nearby Victoria Street, the main line station is a terminus of the Brighton Main Line to Gatwick Airport and Brighton and the Chatham Main Line to Ramsgate and Dover via Chatham. You can park for up to 12 hours for £26.50 in the car park at Victoria Station.
The most expensive train station car parks in Europe
1. Zürich HB, Switzerland, parking price for 8 hours: €46.26
Zürich Hauptbahnhof is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe. Zürich is a central railway hub, with services across the country and neighbouring countries such as Germany, Italy, Austria, and France.
Parking at the central station costs around €46.26 (CHF45.00) for 8 hours. Serving over 154.6 million annual customers in 2018, Zurich is an extremely busy interchange relied on by locals and tourists alike.
2. Gare du Nord, France, parking price for 8 hours: €40.40
Gare du Nord is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. Gare du Nord is served by trails that run between the capital and Northern France via the Paris-Lille railway, as well as to Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
Gare du Nord saw 292.2 million passengers in 2022, making it the busiest railway station in Europe. To park at the station, you can expect to pay around €40.40 for an up to 12-hour stay.
3. Bern, Switzerland, parking price for 8 hours: €39.00
Bern Railway Station services the municipality of Bern, the federal city of Switzerland. The station has been rebuilt several times since its opening in 1860, and it lies on the Olten-Bern and the Lausanne-Bern lines. To park here, you can expect to pay around €39.00 per day.
Methodology
The data used in our study is accurate as of April 2024.
All figures are representative of the daily price at each train station on the day of travel. The prices may differ due to individual perks or offers available. Where possible, the prices for rail users were used. The parking prices were also only taken for train stations with an onsite car park.
Parking prices were taken for an 8-hour stay between 9am and 5pm on a Monday. Some of the train stations in our research did not have a car park and were removed from the list. If a train station website has multiple parking areas, the cheapest fare was taken. This data is accurate as of 15/04/2024.
A list of the busiest train stations in the UK was taken from the Office of Rail Regulation’s Estimates of station usage. This data is accurate as of 01/02/2024.
The busiest train stations in Europe were taken from Wikipedia, and the number of passengers (millions per year) between 2018 and 2019. Railway stations located in Russia were removed from the list. This data is correct as of 06/02/2024.
The parking prices for each railway station were taken from each train station’s website where available. Parkopedia was used where prices were not available on the website. National Car Parks was also used for several UK train stations.
The prices for European train stations were converted from Euros and CHF to GBP using XE on 15/04/2024.
How much does it cost to park at the world’s busiest train stations?
Trains connect us to each end of the country, with millions of commuters relying on rail services for everything from their commute to work, travelling to the airport, reuniting with friends, and much more. But just how costly is it to park at some of the nation’s busiest train stations?
Commuters far and wide on their way to work or on business trips will understand the importance of reliable and on-time public transport. However, people who don’t have access to nearby rail networks may use their car instead. This is why car finance is often chosen by those who want the independence and freedom of owning their car without paying a lump sum.
Many tourists travel by train to their favourite European destinations for convenience or prefer eco-friendly transport, so how does parking at major European stations compare? By looking at the cost of a day’s parking at each of these stations, we will rank them against a list of the UK’s and Europe’s biggest and busiest railway stations.
The most expensive train station car parks in the UK
1. Glasgow Central, parking price for 8 hours: £24.95
Glasgow Central Station recorded the highest daily parking fee, costing £24.95 for an 8 hour stay on a weekday.
The Scottish transport hub is not as busy as other city stations; with just over 15.3 million passengers recorded in 2022, it is the 3rd busiest station on our list. However, Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and the third largest in the UK, so its transport links connect to many Scottish towns.
1. Moorfields, Liverpool, parking price for 8 hours: £24.95
Moorfields Railway Station is an underground railway in the centre of Liverpool. According to the National Car Parks website, parking here for six to 24 hours costs £24.95, putting it in joint first place with Glasgow Central’s fare.
Liverpool Moorfields sees over 4.8 million passengers annually and is the 15th busiest train station on our list. It is the third-busiest station on the Merseyrail network, behind Central and Lime Street.
3. Leeds, parking price for 8 hours: £22.50
Leeds Railway Station is the mainline railway station serving the city centre of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. According to the APCOA Parking website, to park in the long-stay car park, you can expect a price of up to £22.50 for up to a 24-hour stay. Leeds Station sees over 19.2 million visitors annually, making it the second busiest station in our findings.
The cheapest train station car parks in the UK
1. Maidenhead, parking price for 8 hours: £5.40
Maidenhead railway station serves the market town of Maidenhead, Berkshire. Maidenhead recorded the cheapest parking fare at its station, priced at just £5.40 per day. Maidenhead sees around 2.4 million passengers annually, and it is 24 miles down the line from London Paddington station.
2. Eastbourne, parking price for 8 hours: £6.60
Eastbourne Railway Station serves the seaside town of Eastbourne in East Sussex on the East Coastway Line. Eastbourne recorded the second-cheapest parking fare, priced at just £6.60 for the day. Eastbourne Station saw almost 2.7 million annual visitors by the end of 2022 and is a connecting station with other towns and cities along the south coast, including direct services to Brighton, Hastings, and Ashford.
3. Ashford International, parking price for 8 hours: £6.70
Ashford International Railway Station placed third for the cheapest train station parking in the UK, with a daily rate of £6.70. Ashford International connects several railway lines, including High Speed 1 and the South Eastern Main Line. There were approximately 2.6 million annual passengers in 2022.
London’s most expensive train station car parks
1. St Pancras, parking price for 8 hours: £32.50
St Pancras Railway Station recorded the highest-priced fare for an 8 hour stay over any other rail station in London. St Pancras is a major Central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Borough of Camden. As you may expect, parking in Central London isn’t cheap, and according to the station’s website, parking for between 6 to 12 hours costs £32.50.
2. Paddington, parking price for 8 hours: £28.00
Paddington is a London railway station and London Underground station complex in the Paddington area. Paddington Station has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great Western Railway since 1838.
You can expect to pay £28 at Paddington’s busy, urban location, as it is more expensive to park than those in less busy areas, coupled with a station usage of over 23.8 million passengers in 2022.
3. London Victoria, parking price for 8 hours: £26.50
London Victoria, also known as Victoria Station, is a Central London railway terminus with a connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster.
Named after the nearby Victoria Street, the main line station is a terminus of the Brighton Main Line to Gatwick Airport and Brighton and the Chatham Main Line to Ramsgate and Dover via Chatham. You can park for up to 12 hours for £26.50 in the car park at Victoria Station.
The most expensive train station car parks in Europe
1. Zürich HB, Switzerland, parking price for 8 hours: €46.26
Zürich Hauptbahnhof is the largest railway station in Switzerland and one of the busiest in Europe. Zürich is a central railway hub, with services across the country and neighbouring countries such as Germany, Italy, Austria, and France.
Parking at the central station costs around €46.26 (CHF45.00) for 8 hours. Serving over 154.6 million annual customers in 2018, Zurich is an extremely busy interchange relied on by locals and tourists alike.
2. Gare du Nord, France, parking price for 8 hours: €40.40
Gare du Nord is one of the seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. Gare du Nord is served by trails that run between the capital and Northern France via the Paris-Lille railway, as well as to Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
Gare du Nord saw 292.2 million passengers in 2022, making it the busiest railway station in Europe. To park at the station, you can expect to pay around €40.40 for an up to 12-hour stay.
3. Bern, Switzerland, parking price for 8 hours: €39.00
Bern Railway Station services the municipality of Bern, the federal city of Switzerland. The station has been rebuilt several times since its opening in 1860, and it lies on the Olten-Bern and the Lausanne-Bern lines. To park here, you can expect to pay around €39.00 per day.
Methodology
The data used in our study is accurate as of April 2024.
All figures are representative of the daily price at each train station on the day of travel. The prices may differ due to individual perks or offers available. Where possible, the prices for rail users were used. The parking prices were also only taken for train stations with an onsite car park.
Parking prices were taken for an 8-hour stay between 9am and 5pm on a Monday. Some of the train stations in our research did not have a car park and were removed from the list. If a train station website has multiple parking areas, the cheapest fare was taken. This data is accurate as of 15/04/2024.
A list of the busiest train stations in the UK was taken from the Office of Rail Regulation’s Estimates of station usage. This data is accurate as of 01/02/2024.
The busiest train stations in Europe were taken from Wikipedia, and the number of passengers (millions per year) between 2018 and 2019. Railway stations located in Russia were removed from the list. This data is correct as of 06/02/2024.
The parking prices for each railway station were taken from each train station’s website where available. Parkopedia was used where prices were not available on the website. National Car Parks was also used for several UK train stations.
The prices for European train stations were converted from Euros and CHF to GBP using XE on 15/04/2024.
For a better road ahead
Moneybarn is a member of the Finance and Leasing Association, the official trade organisation of the motor finance industry. The FLA promotes best practice in the motor finance industry for lending and leasing to consumers and businesses.
Moneybarn is the trading style of Moneybarn No. 1 Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 04496573, and Moneybarn Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with company number 02766324. The registered address for these companies is: Athena House, Bedford Road, Petersfield, Hampshire, GU32 3LJ.
Moneybarn’s VAT registration number is 180 5559 52.
Moneybarn Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services reference No. 702781)
Moneybarn No. 1 Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (Financial Services reference No. 702780)
