HOPES for additional car parking spaces at Farnham railway station in the near future have been boosted following a meeting last week between South West Trains managers and the Alton Line Users Association (ALUA).

Plans for a new double-deck car park took a step forward in April after South West Trains announced Farnham was included in a £50 million package of improvements to benefit passengers, agreed with the Department of Transport.

South West Surrey MP Jeremy Hunt secured a commitment from the train operator that the improvements would be implemented by early 2017.

South West Trains is yet to confirm the details of its investment but its managing director Tim Shoveller told Mr Hunt here would be enough money to build a “simple” car park.

This week, ALUA chairman David Jones told The Herald: “I’m very pleased to report we met with South West Trains managers last Tuesday and creating additional car parking spacers at Farnham station is being given priority in the plans that are being formulated.

“We were told we would be kept informed down the line. People living in the vicinity of the station are suffering from the lack of parking and so are commuters. Commuters who either don’t want to pay the daily parking charge or can’t find a space, are parking further and further away as more people use the station.

“Another deck is proposed over what is there at present and there will be more facilities for cyclists and scooter riders. A new exit and entrance is also promised.

“We have been lobbying for this for commuters and neighbouring residents for more than nine years. We understand more than 200 extra parking spaces will be provided.”

South West Trains announced its £50 million package of improvements will include creating 1,400 additional parking spaces across the network, together with the introduction of smart ticketing and more than 57,000 additional seats plus 73 new services.

The network is one of the UK’s busiest and not one but two commuter trains from Woking to Waterloo, the 7.32am and the 7.02am, made it into the 10 most overcrowded peak train services in England and Wales recorded by the Rail Executive in its latest count for autumn 2014, published last Wednesday.

When asked to confirm that Farnham station parking would be prioritised, a spokesman for South West Trains said: “The £50million is on a range of initiatives and improvements right across the network - not just for Farnham. We are not in a position to publicise dates at the moment for aspects of the scheme.”