Better parking

SIR, - A number of articles and letters have been featured in your newspaper recently regarding the car-parking facilities at St Albans City Station car park including the new multi-storey car park. I am writing to you directly to clarify a number of issues raised in the newspaper and comments made in the letters section.

The new multi-storey car park is a significant improvement on the previous car-park facilities at Victoria Street. The car park has new technology, staff on site 24 hours a day, intelligent lighting and over 800 spaces. There is full CCTV monitoring which will mean it is one of the safest and secure car parks in Herts.

Over the course of the summer we will be working with the British Transport Police to gain Car Park Mark Accreditation and improve the existing Station Way car park.

We did brief customers through stakeholder letters, presentations, posters at stations and leaflets ahead of the opening of the new car park and introduction of new parking prices. We had 10 First Capital Connect and NCP (National Car Parks who manage all our car parks on our behalf) staff available on the launch day to answer any queries - and the majority of feedback has been positive.

NCP representatives continue to be present at the new multi-storey car park to assist customers 24/7. There were very few problems with season ticket holders who received two letters to inform them of the new process and procedure for using Smart Cards at the multi-storey car park. During the first week of opening this process had no major problems.

The car park is completely separate and nothing to do with the homes and wider development. Indeed, the car park is new so drivers will take time to get to know the layout. But it is clearly signed, marked, lined, and there is good lighting. Across all our car parks we have invested not only in security but in flexible paying such as Park and Pay by Phone, new help points and pay-and-display machines. Most of our car parks have recently been relined and we now have 26 stations with car parks that are accredited by the British Transport Police for safer car-parking facilities.

We believe all of our car parks offer very competitive rates to other car parks in the St Albans area and since the start of the franchise we have made a number of improvements to the overall facilities at St Albans. I believe that there is a significant difference between the old facilities at Victoria Street and the new multi-storey car park.

DAVID BURNS,

Customer Services Commercial Manager,

First Capital Connect.