Q-Park have introduced an extended 15 minutes of free parking to customers who register on the Q-Park app to use for drop offs at Sheffield Train Station to help alleviate city centre congestion.
Sheffield Train Station has introduced a new one‑way system, with all traffic entering via Fornham Street and exiting via Turner Street, while Cross Turner Street is now the main public drop‑off point for very short stays. Direct pick‑up outside the station is limited to hackney carriage taxis, and private hire vehicles must use the relocated drop‑off areas. These changes are enforced by ANPR cameras, with motorists risking large fines for stopping or accessing areas incorrectly.
Q-Park Sheffield Station is a multi-storey parking facility located a short walk away from the train station itself, with the entrance being on Turner Street. It provides over 650 parking spaces of convenient parking for train passengers but it also serves as part of the overall supply of parking in the city centre for both commuters and leisure visitors. Q-Park recently designated this facility as a Mobility Hub as part of their strategy to redefine city centre parking in Europe. The aim is to evolve parking facilities to become vital instruments to help realise urban accessibility, sustainability and liveability. Q‑Park defines a Mobility Hub as a facility that delivers four essential components; Parking, Charging, Booking and Sharing. All of these are offered at this facility, there are 8 EV Charging Points to help encourage more green miles from Sheffield’s motorists. Pre-booking helps reduce urban search traffic as a customer who has booked parking heads straight to the car park rather than circling the roads trying to find a space. Sharing is defined as allowing customers to choose an alternative mode of onward travel. The facility’s proximity to the train station, along with an on‑site Sixt Rent a Car branch offering electric vehicles, makes it an ideal location for this.
To access the extended free parking for drop offs, customers must register for Q-Park Go on the Q-Park app before they travel. This simply requires the customer to register their Number Plate and payment card on the app. Upon arrival at the car park, the cameras read the Number Plate and the barrier opens automatically with the same occurring upon departure. The customer is charged automatically via their payment card only if they are parked for longer than 15 minutes. They are then able to park seamlessly in other Q-Park locations across the UK as well as 6 other countries in Western Europe.
Adam Bidder, Managing Director of Q-Park UK commented “Our aim is to assist with the mobility and energy transition challenges within urban environments. This innovative scheme allows rail passengers and their families access to a convenient location for drop offs that is completely stress fee and also reduces congestion on Sheffield’s roads.”
About Q-Park
Q-Park is a leading off-street parking infrastructure owner and operator with well-managed commercial parking facilities across seven western European countries. We operate off-street parking spaces we own, have under concession or with long-term lease contracts from public and private landlords. We focus on off-street purpose-built parking facilities at strategic locations. We operate more than 5,300 parking facilities comprising over 1 million parking spaces in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark. Based on publicly available industry data for our competitors, we estimate that we are a top three player, based on the estimated off-street revenues, in all the countries in which we operate. Q-Park also has numerous mobility hubs which provide access to a variety of mobility solutions. We house and support a range of activities from last mile logistics, electric vehicle charging, micromobility and car sharing services which help support urban accessibility, sustainability and liveability.
