SouthWest Trains and Parking - Snow Policy

Now this will deviate slightly from the Information Assurance Theme, well its about the Avaliability of Parking durring the snow...so i guess as Avaliability is one of the factors of Information Assurance (C, I & A... Confidentiality, Integrity and Avaliability), this counts as an acceptable blog.

For the past two years we have had some significant snow fall in Winter in the UK. Well not as much as in other countries, but a lot for the UK.

I park daily at Farnborough Main (Hampshire) to catch my train to London Waterloo. South West Trains charge nearly £1,000 per year per car and hence make nearly £5Million a year from the Farnborough Car park itsself.

In 2009 I wrote to South West Trains Customer Services who refused to tell me why they did not Grit and Salt the Car Park. They refused to tell me anything sensible.

In November/December 2010 yet again the car park was un-usable due to the Snow. Basically South West Trains do absolutely nothing. They do not grit or salt the car park, yet the Hampshire Council makes does an amazing job at getting rid of all snow off the roads and pavements uptill the entrance to the Farnborough main Station car park.

I again asked the station staff (Mr Harris) who confirmed that he had never been told by South West Trains to grit the car park for over the 6 years he had worked there.

This time i contacted the Aldershot MP and the South West Trains Managing Director. My MP got involved and hence the Managing Director was forced to answer. I sent across a breach of contract notice to him and he instantly paid up as he knew South West Trains was breaking its contract.

The South West Trains Managing Director did tell my MP that they do grit Farnborough Main Station (which was a lie) and that they have a Winter Precautions Procedure (which he refuses to release to me or to my MP).

I asked the Office of Rail Regulator if they had seen the Winter Precautions Procedure and they confirm that they have not seen it either.

I am now persuing this matter through a FOI Request with the Office of Rail Regulator and my MP. South West Trains must be making about £100 Million a year on Car park charges through its entire Network. Yet they refuse to even spend 5% of this ammount to grit its car park and make it useable and safe.

However they are breaching the contract and i urge everybody to claim money back from them for any lost parking days. I claimed a total of 14 days for between 2009 and 2010 and charged them a mileage rate for my wife dropping and collecting me from the station @ 40p per mile. I suggest you all do the same and remeber the law allows you to do this for upto 6 years. Do leave it, get your money back from South West Trains and soon they will have to start gritting the car parks.

Also do write to your MP about this to highlight the issue. I will post the FOI Request details as soon as i get it from the Office of Rail Regulator.