Basingstoke MP Maria Miller welcomes the opening of South Western Railway's (SWR) new electric vehicle charging points.
SWR has invested £100,000 in 60 new charging points at six busy station car parks on its network, demonstrating a commitment to making rail travel more sustainable.
To celebrate these charging points going live, passengers are now able to charge their electric vehicles for free when they travel by SWR. Passengers will still need to pay for their parking but can drive up to Basingstoke and five other stations - Farnborough, Andover, Haslemere, Wokingham and Fleet - and not pay for a single watt between now and the end of October.
SWR worked with mechanical and electrical engineering specialists, SSE Enterprise Rail, to install Rolec EV WallPod charging units at each station. The units are 13-amp trickle chargers which allow passengers to plug-in and charge their electric vehicles while they are parked for the day. Each station also has a designated parking space to ensure passengers can charge their vehicles safely and securely.
These charging points are designed for the current generation of electric vehicles but are capable of being upgraded to handle higher electrical currents for future developments in the market.
Maria Miller, Member of Parliament for Basingstoke, commented;
"I’m delighted to welcome the opening of South West Railway’s new electric vehicle charging points at Basingstoke station. The points are accessible and the bays very spacious, and it’s also good to see the free charging initiative for passengers.
"We all need to take responsibility for protecting and improving our air quality, and these new charging points can help play a part in encouraging more sustainable travel in Basingstoke."
Jenny Keen, Station Manager at Basingstoke Station, said:
“We’re passionate about sustainability, and by investing in practical projects like station charging points and offering free charging, we can encourage more passengers to make environmentally friendly choices that could help improve local air quality.
“Over the course of the franchise we aim to roll out more green initiatives, including reducing our energy usage and improving how we manage our waste, to ensure we become significantly greener by 2024.”