A new railway station that encourages you to use your car is opening today near Warwick.

Warwick Parkway has been built as a Park and Ride railway station by Chiltern Railway. It is the first railway station in the country not to be solely built and owned by Railtrack.

With 450 parking spaces eventually being available, the aim is to get commuters to drive to the station, and leave their cars there. One of the aims is to promote rail use, and also to compensate for the lack of parking spaces at Leamington and Warwick stations.

A study suggests that 75 per cent of passenger would be former car users, and this is expected to make a difference to congested roads in the area. It is also hoped that businesses in the area will benefit from quicker links to London.

The station is near Budbrooke, on the A4177. Research suggests that it could attract travellers from as far as Stratford, Redditch and Bromsgrove.

Trains run between Birmingham Snow Hill and London Marylebone, and are not affected by the current emergency track repairs being carried out all over the country.

Travel times to London are around 90 minutes, and 30 minutes to Birmingham, tickets to London are £21.50 for a cheap day return and £49 for people travelling at peak time.

Villagers living near the new station opposed the scheme, which was backed and financially supported by Warwickshire County Council. Planning permission for the scheme was given for the scheme in March 1999, following a public inquiry in October 1998.

Cllr Eddie Smith, cabinet member (Environment) said:

"The county council believes that Warwick Parkway will have many benefits for local people and businesses in the area."

Adrian Shooter, managing director of Chiltern Railways said:

"If public transport is to be considered as a viable alternative to travel by car, then it is up to industry and government to make public transport an attractive choice.

"This means providing travellers with a transport system that is reliable, convenient and punctual; that is good value for money and that ultimately provides a pleasant travelling experience."

He added that this philosophy is at the centre of Chiltern Railways' strategy and earned it its ranking as the 'top operator' in a recent national passenger study carried out by the Shadow Strategic Rail Authority.