Network Rail have introduced 450 new electric vehicle charging points at car parks at railway stations across the UK.
The company has been working with parking company APCOA and EV charging equipment provider Compleo to carry out the installation of the charging points, which will be powered by renewable energy and provide enough power to fully charge a vehicle in as little as three to four hours.
APCOA operates car parks at a number of railway stations on behalf of Network Rail and its payment system, APCOA Connect, has been fully integrated with 450 EV fast-charging points to enable users to make either one single payment to cover both their EV and parking charge combined, or individual payments for Parking or EV Charging. All utilisation data for both parking and EV charging is provided to Network Rail via the APCOA Analytics dashboard suite.
The solution is already live at Leeds, Manchester Piccadilly and Reading stations, and is being extended to Edinburgh Waverley, Welwyn Garden City and Birmingham New Street station car parks during July. The system has also been installed in disabled parking bays, so the service is also available to Blue Badge holders. All EV charging points are also visible on Zap Map.
Kim Challis, APCOA’s Regional Managing Director for UK & Ireland said: “We’re really pleased to have developed this solution in conjunction with Compleo to enable charging authentication and easy payment for Network Rail’s EV customers. This solution also provides a significant step towards our sustainability strategy.”
Compleo’s UK Managing Director, Valentin Scheltow added: “We are delighted to partner with APCOA – Europe’s leading parking and mobility provider. I know the combined power of our two organisations working together will provide other innovative solutions.”
Jo Lewington, Network Rail’s Chief Environment & Sustainability Officer, said: “As part of our wider Environmental Sustainability Strategy, we’re working towards delivering a low-emission railway and aiming to reach net-zero emissions by 2045 in Scotland and by 2050 in the rest of Britain.
“Supporting the move to electric vehicles is a key part of that. We hope that by providing affordable, efficient and reliable charging points we can encourage more electric vehicles onto the road and help promote healthier air in and around our stations.”
A core strand of APCOA’s ESG strategy is to rapidly increase the provision of EV charging capability across its car park estate and this new solution for Network Rail is a valuable contribution.
Image courtesy of Compleo.
