Potential Income

With the current move to electric vehicles and the consequent provision at tourist facilities is there any potential value in heritage lines proving electric chargers in their visitors' car parks? On first thought it would appear to be an added source of income if not an added facility to encourage visitors but is this truly the case ?

 

Bressingham certainly has some chargers

There are also some in the car park adjacent to the Watercress Line at Alton

There are significant issues given the current draw in installing chargers though and in some areas the 'local supply' may not be up to it

Given the length of time people are likley to stay at a railway it may be possible to install some 'lower power' ones though

I suggest that the safest way forward would be to offer a concession to a charger operator

 

Agree completely. It removes the capital cost, and allows the railway to be seen well while making a small income.

The only other issue is that, at a tourist attraction, once someone’s plugged in, that space is generally taken for the day. That will increase the number required to avoid complaints about misleading people (see previous discussions about range anxiety and finding chargers).

 

As others have said, it's not without costs. Obviously, if you outsource to an operator, you pay their profit margin too (and don't lose all the management headache as people will still complain to the owner).

I would think the benefit is more in the round
1) a planning gain that could be offered to get a permission through (either formally or as good neighbourliness); and/or
2) a means of attracting and keeping visitors on site (come for the juice, stay for a cake/look round a museum etc).

Electric mobile plant and machinery is coming, but I don't think it is there yet, but having access to a chunky grid feed to allow future use of electric machinery for work might not be a bad thing. (Who's going to be the first to convert a tesla into a depot shunter?)

 

Welshpool & Llanfair and Talyllyn also both already offer electric charging points.
The latter is advertised as free parking but donation requested.

 

Re the Tallylln: is that the carpark over the bridge? It always amazes me that that is free, but I guess there's not much pressure on land there

I assume the electricity isn't free?

 

A traveller on the railway will be there for a good chunk of the day anyway.

 

IIRC the R&ER has some at Ravenglass & Dalegarth

Will check the details next time I'm over there

 

Precisely my point - the space is blocked and that means a need for more to ensure that people feel they can trust availability to be there when needed

 

The website used to state that the charging points at Wharf were accessed via the crossing at the station itself. (That version https://beta.talyllyn.co.uk/plan/information/directions/ is still accessible via Google).
However it appears to have disappeared from the current 'live' version of the website.
https://www.talyllyn.co.uk/plan/information/directions/

The car park over the bridge is chargeable, not sure how much as I always arrive by main line train.

 

Maybe I'm alone on this, but I've never heard anyone asking for a heritage railway (or other) car park to provide petrol pumps, and I doubt they'll be providing a hydrogen supply either when we inevitably decide that battery vehicles aren't the answer. Surely it's up to the vehicle owner to manage their source of power appropriately when planning days out?

 

The point is that recharging an electric car takes longer than filling at a petrol station, so where and how topping up can be managed will also change as drivers reconsider how they manage their power levels. Car parks are in many ways ideal, because the car will be left for a significant time. To that extent, @Fred Kerr is absolutely right to see an opportunity.

 

Those at the Talyllyn and Welshpool and Llanfair will have been funded by grants from the Welsh Gov. The railway simply provides the space.

 

Car park over the bridge is cuoncil ownd and has nothing to do with the rialaway

 

Valet parking and charging.

Come for the day, and for *insert an amount* we will park and charge your car.

Would require having an additional staff member, but could potentially increase utilisation of a charge point, and offers a worry free way of having a day out and returning to a car that is charged, and hasn't become a hassle for others.

Probably not practical in reality, but it's a thought.

Chris

 

Would a charger concession operator be interested in funding the capital costs of a site with a return-rate of only one or two customers a day (not an unreasonable estimate given the typical duration of a heritage-railway visit)?

 

I recall seeing solar panels & storage batteries at Cors Dyfi, when visiting this year ...

So I had a nebby nose at their website -
C&P the following information
Disabled Parking with EV charging points; 15 additional fast chargers (22kWh) in the car park. Free parking

Apparently a few passing visitors come for a quick charge & a snack in the caffi !

 

Exbury Gardens has a small installation of charging points and apparently they have a steady trade of "charge, coffee and cake" from visitors not visiting the gardens or railway.

Cheers, Neil

Beaulieu Motor Museum doesn't have charging points and suggest a pub 5 miles one way or a supermarket 10 miles in the other direction....

 

Havenstreet Station has had a couple of chargers for at least 5 years to my knowledge