One of the largest parkand-ride schemes in the West Midlands has been officially opened by Transport Minister Derek Twigg.
The £2.7 million park and ride facility at Stourbridge Junction rail station is the latest addition to a Centro-Passenger Transport Authority programme which is calculated to take more than 2.5 million car journeys a year off the region's congested roads.
Mr Twigg said: "Park and ride is important in encouraging people to use the trains.
"It is about giving people as many journey options as possible and making the public transport option an attractive one."
Centro, the region's passenger transport executive, wants to encourage public transport use by providing free, secure parking for rail commuters, who then benefit from a frequent train service to Birmingham.
A recent survey showed one in five of the city's rush- hour commuters travels by train and around half of those have opted to leave a car behind.
"The growing number of park-and-ride spaces are proving very popular and can make a significant contribution towards tackling the congestion that could make our lives a misery in the West Midlands," said Coun Gary Clarke, chairman of the PTA, which sets Centro policy.
The facility doubles the size of the existing facility at Stourbridge Junction by adding 400 spaces off Rufford Road - creating a new total of around 6,000 parkand-ride spaces in the conurbation.
These are linked to the station by a new footbridge with a public art sculpture depicting two Champagne glasses - made from steel and glass tubes filled with 500 and 1,000 crushed Champagne flutes. The previous car park was often oversubscribed.
In July, the PTA agreed to increase the number of park-and-ride spaces at four West Midland rail stations by 70 per cent.
Plans to expand the car parks at Acocks Green, Chester Road, Wylde Green and Whitlock's End stations were brought forward by three years.
