Electric car owners are now benefitting from free fast-charging facilities at ScotRail Alliance stations.
The first of 50 chargers are now live, with the remainder set to follow over the coming weeks. The chargers at Uphall, Bathgate, East Kilbride and Johnstone are available to all customers parking at the stations and are free to use. A complete charge from the 22kW supply will typically take around four hours, twice as fast as ‘plugging-in’ at home. A total of 100 spaces will be created at 50 of the ScotRail Alliance’s station car parks by the end of the year, joining over 700 publicly-available charge points across the country. Joining the chargers are a fleet of four electric vans, which have been leased as part of the ScotRail Alliance’s work to reduce our environmental impact. The Nissan NV200s replace a number of existing diesel vehicles. The ScotRail Alliance’s programmes and transformation director, Ian McConnell, said: “We’re building the best railway Scotland has ever had, and improved facilities for customers at our stations is a huge part of this. “These additions to our car parks, combined with longer trains, more seats and better services, will all help us to achieve our aim of reducing the carbon footprint from door to door.” Rebecca Roper, Community Manager at ChargePlace Scotland, said: “We are delighted to welcome the new ScotRail Alliance charge points onto the growing ChargePlace Scotland network. “The addition of these charge points presents the opportunity for greener commuting and travel, and also provides more recharging options at convenient locations for the increasing number of electric vehicles on Scotland’s roads.” Notes Electric vehicle registrations in Scotland are up 62% on this time last year. 1,390 rechargeable electric vehicles were registered in Scotland in between 1 Jan and 4 Sep 2017. (Source: Society of Motor Manufactures and Traders). The charging points are free to use, however, electric vehicles must still pay the relevant fee to park (where applicable). Drivers must also hold a valid ChargePlace Scotland card to activate the charger. The stations soon to benefit from the new charging points are: Aberdeen Airdrie Arbroath Armadale Ayr Bridge of Allan Cardross Croy Cumbernauld Cupar Dalry Drem Dumfries Dunbar Dyce Easterhouse Elgin Falkirk High Girvan Gleneagles Glengarnock Gourock Greenock Gretna Green Helensburgh Central Kilmarnock Kirknewton Lanark Lenzie Linlithgow Longniddry Montrose Musselburgh Newcraighall North Berwick Oban Patterton Perth Pitlochry Prestonpans Stirling Troon Uddingston Wemyss Bay West Calder Wick