Rail passengers are being urged to use the new Manea Railway Station car park.

The free Fenland District Council car park opened earlier this month.

Cllr Chris Seaton, portfolio holder for transport, said: “People can now park at Manea station free-of-charge and travel to destinations near and far – not only Cambridge, Ely and Peterborough but on to the wider country.

“This car park is not only a huge asset for now, it’s also very much an investment into the future vitality of Fenland.

“We’ve very intentionally created enough parking capacity to exceed current use of Manea station – a long term vision we’ve consistently expressed during the years of work it has taken to secure the land, funding and infrastructure for the car park.

“Manea station car park is part of a long-term strategy to create demand for increased and improved rail services for Fenland to support the Council’s ambitions for housing and economic growth and improved prosperity in the district.

“Before the station had a car park it wasn’t feasible to promote use of it beyond those few people who could easily walk to it or get there by other connecting public transport. Now the station is very much open for use to people from a wider area.

“We know our residents want improved and increased rail services and we’ll be continuing to press rail service providers for that.”

The car park is designed to serve a catchment area of including more than 19,000 people, including Manea, Doddington and Wimblington, Chatteris and Welney.

An ‘official’ opening is planned soon, but the car park is already open and available for motorists to use. It opened to motorists on August 7.

The car park, open from 5.30am to 10.30pm, includes 100 parking spaces, disabled bays, a cycle shelter, CCTV and low energy lighting.

The car park was created through Fenland District Council's Railway Station Masterplans scheme, funded by £9.5 million from the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority.

The opening of the car park was delayed due to problems with CCTV installation.

Jonathan Denby, head of corporate affairs for Greater Anglia, said: “We’re really pleased that the car park at Manea has been extended.

“It means there is now the capacity to encourage more sustainable journeys on the rail network to/from Manea, using our comfortable and reliable new trains.

“Instead of having to drive to March, Ely or maybe even Peterborough before catching the train, passengers can now make a more local trip to Manea and board the train there, thereby helping to reduce pollution and congestion.

"We would like to thank Fenland District Council and all the other partners involved in this project.”