First year of new East Midlands station hailed a success
Red Dot Day on Saturday 30 January provides thousands of bargain tickets between East Midlands Parkway and London
Tickets still available for just £10 return, visit reddotday.co.uk
East Midlands Trains is celebrating a successful first year of operation at its East Midlands Parkway station by offering passengers the chance to travel to London for just £10 return on its latest Red Dot Day, to be held on Saturday 30 January.
With today (Tuesday 26 January) marking the station’s first birthday, East Midlands Trains has announced that East Midlands Parkway station, officially opened by the Secretary of State on 26 January 2009, has proved a success so far with passenger numbers exceeding expectations. In its first year, 256,000 passengers have used the station, with research demonstrating that the station is popular with both business and leisure passengers:
44% of those travelling are business passengers (the average for all other stations is 25%)
48% of passengers are travelling for leisure (the average for all other stations is 36%).
In addition, the new station, which is easily accessible and located only five minutes from Junction 24 of the M1, has attracted some new rail travellers, with 24% of passengers interviewed stating that they would have made their journeys by car if the station did not exist. This has led to a reduction of 1,700 tonnes in CO2 emissions.
David Horne, Commercial Director for East Midlands Trains, said: “We’re extremely pleased that passengers are voting with their feet and making the most of this fantastic new station.
“To celebrate a successful first year, we’re giving passengers the chance to travel to London, or anywhere else on our network, for only £10 return for adults and £5 for kids on our Red Dot Day, which will be held on Saturday 30 January. A limited number of tickets are still available, and with car parking for just £5 for the whole day, it’s a good opportunity for a bargain trip to London to beat those January blues.”
For Red Dot Day, tickets are available only from East Midlands Parkway station with a voucher, which can be downloaded from the reddotday.co.uk website. To reserve a seat, booking in advance is strongly recommended. Passengers are advised to arrive at least 20 minutes in advance of their planned train departure. For more information about East Midlands Trains Red Dot Days or for a copy of the terms and conditions, visit East Midlands Trains dedicated website at reddotday.co.uk.
David continues: “This will be our seventh Red Dot Day and we’re hoping that as this marks such a special occasion, it will be the biggest and best one yet! The Red Dot Days have been a real success so far, with more than 7,500 passengers using one of our £10 tickets, and more than two thirds of passengers using rail for the first time.
“We do hope people will take advantage of our Red Dot Day to enjoy a trip from East Midlands Parkway station, but for those unable to join us, the best fare finder tool on our website allows passengers to easily find fares to London for just £9 each way.”
East Midlands Parkway station is located 5 mins from Junction 24 of the M1, with a rail link shuttle service running every 30 mins between the station and East Midlands Airport. The station is served by over 100 trains every weekday serving London, Derby, Leicester, Nottingham and Sheffield. Daily car parking is available for just £5 everyday, and there is room for 850 cars in the station’s car park.