AN INDEPENDENT rail campaigner has issued an urgent call for a new station to resolve chronic parking problems in Milngavie.

Railfuture Scotland made the plea to Scotrail Alliance and Transport Scotland as they prepared to announce three new electric trains in the area in 2018.

The proposal called for plans to establish Allander Station between Hillfoot and Milngavie stops to be accelerated and criticised a lack of action.

The station would include 400 park and ride spaces for cars, increasing rail use and reducing car journeys into the city centre and beyond.

Despite reports published in 2005 and 2008 suggesting that Allander Station would be a positive addition to the rail network in Milngavie, as well as the universal backing of local councillors, limited progress has been made.

Railfuture Research Officer Ken Sutherland said: "The fact is that station parking in Milngavie is totally inadequate and a lot of people want to travel by train and can't because they can't get their car parked.

This also applies to people coming from Strathblane and Blanefield, Killearn and Balfron and frustration has been building for years."

Mr Sutherland added that the decision of Scotrail Alliance and Transport Scotland to announce the electric trains in Milngavie was ironic given the parking issues.

He described one of the worst areas, the A81 Milngavie Road, as a "linear car park" and urged for more cooperation to bring the development of the new station forward.

SNP Councillor Jim Gibbon said: "It has been a long-standing ambition of East Dunbartonshire Council to have a rail hub at the Allander location. It is proving very difficult to provide that solution, but there will be an allocation of 150 spaces reserved within the local plan combined with spaces at Allander Sports Centre which could provide extra parking in the area in the future."

According to Cllr. Gibbon, the car park at Milngavie Station is 108 percent full due to drivers parking illegally.

He added: "The infrastructure and timetabling would have to be considered before any developments."