THERE is a big difference between how many ACROD bays there are at Ellenbrook station compared with Ballajura station.

The Public Transport Authority said there are 21 ACROD bays at Ballajura and 10 at Ellenbrook.

This is understandable when Ballajura has more than double the amount of parking bays  that Ellenbrook has.

When the City of Swan was introducing paid parking in the Ellenbrook town centre it said there wasn’t the land available to build more parking at the train station.

“The Public Transport Authority has developed a 500-bay car park as part of the delivery of Ellenbrook train station,’’ the city’s website said.

In light of this Echo News asked if the Public Transport Authority had any statistics on how many ACROD permit holders had parked at the Ellenbrook station to use the Morley Ellenbrook line since it opened and if there were enough ACROD bays at the Ellenbrook station.

A Public Transport Authority spokeswoman said Ellenbrook station had proven incredibly popular and was among the busiest stations on the network, despite only opening in December.

“The Public Transport Authority closely monitors capacity at its train stations and it’s not uncommon for passengers to travel to alternative nearby stations where there may be more parking capacity,’’ she said.

“For example, Whiteman Park station is just under a 10-minute drive away and offers 900 parking bays, with current ample capacity most days.

“Perth’s public transport system is an integrated system designed to encourage commuters to use public transport where possible.

“Part of this involves encouraging passengers to catch buses to train stations, rather than drive their cars to catch trains.

“Across the network, including the Ellenbrook line, the number of ACROD bays for each station carpark meets the industry standard.’’