Dundalk Train station parking

towbar

Headed to Belfast on Sunday, not a frequent train user and genuinely didnt know they had changed to paid parking - when travelling with 4 kids not something your paying close attention to when running to catch the train. Saw a paid parking sign on way down the ramp which was way too late and wrongly hoped Sunday would be free.

Anyway we obviousily weren't the only ones as saw 2 other cars clamped on our return. At €120 + credit card fees a pop seems steep for a €2 fee compared to Dublin's €80?

Surely they should be forced to put in larger notices about clamping or a barrier which would avoid people being tricked. Not against paid parking though but just felt the notices are very few only 2 small notices mentioned clamping- did I miss them totally?

If anyone happens to have their parking ticket for Sunday - very welcome recipient....

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

I'm an infrequent user of the train but I couldn't help but notice the signs around the car parks. There's even a final reminder on a sandwichboard outside the door to the Ticket Office.
The ticket machines are scattered around the car parks so seeing the notice going down the ramp was far from too late. The notice is there for that very reason.

I hope you're not contemplating fraud when you asked if anybody has a parking ticket for Sunday!:mad:

towbar

Only saw one ticket machine in upper car park on our return - admittedly it was dark.

When going down the ramp would not only have to get ticket but return and display in car - definitely too late for most of us...

Their are two signs I seen in the upper car park with tiny writing about clamping in operation - there are about 6 signs with words pay and display.

Surely the fair system is a barrier - where people are not tricked into being clamped. That is where the real fraud is occuring for certainly that day more money was collected in clamping than legitiate parking fees.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

towbar wrote: »

Only saw one ticket machine in upper car park on our return - admittedly it was dark.

When going down the ramp would not only have to get ticket but return and display in car - definitely too late for most of us...

Their are two signs I seen in the upper car park with tiny writing about clamping in operation - there are about 6 signs with words pay and display.

Surely the fair system is a barrier - where people are not tricked into being clamped. That is where the real fraud is occuring for certainly that day more money was collected in clamping than legitiate parking fees.

You have totally lost me! There are several ticket machines in the lower carpark and on a Sunday it's even easier to get parked even nearer to one. Would the Pay & Display signs plus the DID YOU PAY YOUR PARKING sign not suggest something to you?

towbar

srameen

Thanks for your feedback

We were in upper car park beside entrance - I didnt notice any signs until we were heading down to the platform. Admittedly we had 5 small kids were running close to departure time and missed the signs in the car park.

My point is that if you park in the upper car park you (in my opnion) could (as happened us) genuinely miss any of those signs and especially the fact that clamping is in operation. Most of the pay and display signs dont even mention clamping not that should be a reason for not paying but people should be notified that clamping is in place. The signs are small and there seems to be only one pay ticket machine outside the window of the harp factory.

My second point is that a sign as you head down the ramp is in my mind pointless as by the time you get there you usually dont have time to go back to your car. I accept maybe its just us but when travelling with small kids we always seem to be arriving 'just in time'!! One large sign at athe entrance would be much better.

My third point is that even seeing all this one could be forgiven for assuming that the ticketing did not operate on a Sunday as is quite commonly the case in many public and private parking areas. This unfortunately was our hope as we boarded the train having seen a pay and display sign on our way down the platform.

My final point is that 120 fee for a 2 euro daily rate seems unreasonable and top that off with a 5 euro credit card fee per car. We paid for 2 cars that night and each was treated as a seperate transaction so they could charge us €10.

My reason for posting was that in our opinion the notfication that clamping is in operation is minimal and I was curious what others thought.