The new hourly rate will offer people the choice of parking for up to four hours with the tariff of just £1 per hour and offering an ideal option for those taking short trips or visiting locations close to the stations.

Greater Anglia’s other tariffs and prices which have remained the same since 2020 will not be changed.

The 31 stations taking part in the new hourly tariff are Audley End, Billericay, Bishop’s Stortford, Broxbourne, Cambridge North, Chelmsford, Cheshunt, Colchester, Diss, Ely, Harlow Town, Hatfield Peverel, Ingatestone, Ipswich, Kelvedon, Manningtree, Marks Tey, Rayleigh, Shenfield, Whittlesford, Wickford and Witham.

All of the above stations feature Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) which will make for a simpler and faster approach to paying up to 24 hours after parking.

Greater Anglia will also be bringing in the hourly tariff for Hockley, Lowestoft, March, Prittlewell, Rochford, Stowmarket, Waltham Cross, Ware and Wivenhoe stations, and will provide customers with the ability to pay for parking via Pay By Phone.

Simone Bailey, Greater Anglia asset management director said:

“By introducing a new cheaper short-stay hourly tariff at our car parks, we hope people will consider taking the train for short trips to nearby towns such as between Ipswich and Colchester, or Diss and Norwich, or even Cambridge North to Cambridge.

“Replacing a car journey with a train journey is better for the environment by cutting potential carbon emissions and reduces congestion on our roads and in our towns.”

The rail operator’s latest station parking initiative comes after its introduction of a flexible parking season ticket in autumn 2021, which supported commuters travelling to work two to three times per week.

The flexible parking season ticket is available from all of the ANPR stations mentioned earlier along with Cambridge and offers eight parking sessions that need to be used within 28 days of being purchased and which coordinated with the new Flexi Season ticket launched last summer.

The flexible parking season ticket has differing prices from station to station and brings discounts of up to 12.5% when compared to daily peak time rates.