Peterborough Station signage to be ‘addressed’ over concerns payment system is ‘confusing’

LNER, which runs all car parks at the station, said the recent installation of Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) at the long stay car park off Bourges Boulevard may have caused an issue for commuters.

One of them, Kate Masters, was recently told she would receive a refund after spending weeks persistently contacting three different customer service teams.

Kate was left confused by the close proximity of ticketing booths for both the long-stay and short-stay car parks, which use different phone apps for visitors to buy tickets.

Kate used the new entrance to the car park in Bourges Boulevard and bought a ticket on the RingGo app (which was being advertised), not realising this was valid only for the adjacent short-stay car park.

On her return to the station she went to a ticketing booth as she thought she would need to collect a ticket to get out, but the machine said she would need to pay again, which she did.

It was only when she drove out having paid £14.25 instead of £7 that she realised there was no longer any barrier, so she did not need a physical ticket.

However, Kate was fortunate that if she had not paid for a second time, she would have been caught out by the new ANPR system, as the ticket she had bought on RingGo would not have been valid.

Instead, the long-stay car park uses the Glide app for people to buy tickets, as opposed to RingGo.

Other commuters have also tweeted LNER as they too were not clear about how to use the car park, or how to ask for a refund.

Kate contacted LNER, RingGo and CP Plus Ltd (which manages the long stay car park) and was passed between them for weeks before RingGo said LNER had authorised a refund for her extra ticket,

Kate said: “I’m not hopeful that anyone who makes the mistake of using the wrong service to park at Peterborough Station will get a refund; I only got a reply and promise of a refund after advising them I had contacted the press.

“It would be really helpful to passengers - and would help avoid a repeat of the situation we found ourselves in - if LNER could improve the signage.”

Kate added: “It would also be helpful if they could give their customer service staff on the phone and social media the information to answer what I consider to be such a simple query. Sending people around the houses on the phone and asking them to return to the station to resolve a query really isn’t acceptable in this day and age.

“Luckily I had that option and David at the station was great and found the answers I needed. Peterborough is a main line station, some people travel quite a long way to join the main line east coast service north or south here, and not everyone would be able to just pop back.”

LNER owns all car parks at the station. It said payment machines for long stay and short stay car parks have always been different.

In addition, it said the recently installed ANPR system in the long stay car park means customers no longer need to buy tickets.

Instead, before exiting the car park, customers enter their car registration in one of three payment terminals located between the station entrance and car park.

The machine will identify the car, work out how long the car has been parked and will charge the appropriate amount.

Customers can also pay by downloading the Glide app.

An LNER spokesperson said: “We recognise that since the installation of ANPR in the main station car park customers could find the payment system confusing. We will be addressing this over the coming weeks with improved customer signage.”

Customers wishing to dispute a Penalty Charge issued from the main station car park can appeal online or by post to CP Plus Ltd which manages the car park:

Post: CP Plus Ltd, PO Box 3573, Barnet, EN5 9QA.