Left luggage at York station improving

It’s around 4 years since the left luggage facility within York station was relocated.

As we reported in 2013,  passengers face a challenging walk with heavy luggage to the new facility which is located near the Europcar Office on Queen Street.

We are pleased to report that the new luggage service operator (Autohorn Fleet Services) has gradually been improving facilities.

Details can be found on their  website  http://leftluggageyork.co.uk/ while they also have a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/LeftLuggageYork/

Autohorn say that they have

  • Moved the office slightly so it’s at a better angle for customers coming in and out of the office.
  • Now have the facility to take card payments.
  • Coned off our office from public walkways and driveways to ensure customers are kept safe (as the road can be very busy at certain times of the year)
  • Sign posting has become more apparent for travellers from the York Station. Adding onto the addition of our huge ‘Left Luggage’ flat, we’ve got smaller signs pointing towards our direction.
  • Multi-lingual signs to help aid foreign travellers within the city.
  • Been working with Make It York we’re also placed in the various tourist maps to showing clearer directions as to where we are.

 We do, however, hope that Autohorn and Virgin (who operate York Station) will continue to work to find a way of providing a direct route across the car park to the luggage office.

Passengers complain about “left luggage” mystery tour at York station while East Coast records £6 million profit

Passengers are complaining that the left luggage “office” at York station means a long walk for passengers.

The route from the station involves walking over the Queens Street Bridge to a site near the Railway Institute.

Left luggage office at York Station

Left luggage office at York Station

It will be a gloomy and slippery route during winter weather.

It has been branded as too demanding for elderly passengers with heavy luggage.

The York ”left luggage” facility is advertised on railway web sites but is poorly signed in the station and on the access route.

“Left luggage” used to be available near platform 1 but this facility has now disappeared.

Left luggage lockers also were taken away in the wake of security concerns.

A more direct route to the new cabin would be possible across the long stay car park but the perimeter is secured.

East Coast Managing Director Karen Boswell has been asked to intervene to ensure that the service – which is important for a City with a large tourism industry – is improved

Meanwhile Skeldergate based East Coast trains have reported increased turnover for last year.

Annual results released by DOR on Tuesday show it paid the government £208m in premium and dividend payments in the year to March 31.

The operator generated a turnover of £694m during the period, up from £666m the year before, although an increase in operating expenditure reduced profits. Pre-tax profit dipped to £5.9m from £7m previously.

A process to re-privatise the line will begin later this month. A winning bidder is expected to be announced in October 2014 before the franchise changes ownership in February 2015.

The contact is expected to be fiercely contested by a number of domestic and foreign rail companies. Eurostar announced last week it planned to bid for the contract as part of a joint venture with fellow French rail group Keolis.