Fines for non electric cars in EV spaces at full Portlaoise train station carpark

Commuters parking in E-vehicles spaces at Portlaoise train station are going to landed with fines, Laois County Council has warned.

Their new 92 space carpark beside Portlaoise train station, opened in November 2023 to take motoring commuters off the road and into public transport, is full up by early morning.

This is tempting drivers of non-electric cars to park in the only empty spaces, the ten spaces marked out for E-vehicle chargers.

Eight of the ten E-parking spaces are for slow charging, making them ideal for Dublin commuters with E-cars to park in all day. The remaining two are fast-charging.

Director of Services Simon Walton said abusers of the spaces will be ticketed, especially the fast charging spots.

"Those eight are less used than any other. However is an offence for anything other than an E-vehicle to park in them. There is a particular demand for the two fast charging spaces. If you don't have an E-car, I'm confident you will get ticketed. The message is these need to be available 24 seven for fast charging," he said.

The council director also said there is no way those spaces will be converted to normal spaces.

This is despite the fact that commuters who prepay the €30 monthly charge arrive to find no space to park, a situation highlighted at the March council meeting by Cllr Conor Bergin.

"I am conscious of the lack of demand for the eight slow charging spaces. Laois County Council has an obligation in the Climate Change Act so we provided ten spaces. There is absolutely no proposal to changed them. That is one of the principals on which the state provided funding for this carpark," he said.

"People who purchase the monthly tickets and then arrive early enough and can't avail of a space, we are conscious of that. But buying the monthly ticket does not guarantee you a place. People do have the option to go in and pay daily," he said.

The carpark shares a site with the Goldencroft social housing development. 

He spoke after Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald tabled a motion asking for monitoring of the use of the electric charging spaces in Portlaoise, especially at the train station.

"I got requests from local taxi drivers about cars left in the slow charge spaces for hours. How many hours are people allowed to park in E-vehicle spots?" she asked.

Mr Walton said they are for people getting the train to Dublin, "it's an all day carpark," he said.

Some of the slow charge points can however be converted to the more popular fast chargers, Mr Walton said.

"It's a good sign that it's full everyday, it's a great service. It's full to the brim, you'd wonder where people went before," Cllr Fitzgerald added.

The use of electric charging spaces in Portlaoise will now be monitored by council staff, as she requested. 

The 92 space public carpark on Railway Street was opened 17 months ago, in a long awaited venture by Laois County Council that was hoped to solve parking shortages at the busy Portlaoise train station. It costs anything from €2 for 2 hours, to €30 for daily parkers, prepaid per month.  Video and story from official opening