AN electric car charging point has gone ‘live’ at Johnstone railway station.

It is one of 50 free charging points being installed at railway stations across the country, reports The Gazette. 

The chargers are available to all customers parking at the stations and are free to use, although drivers must hold a valid ChargePlace Scotland card to activate the device.

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Ian McConnell, ScotRail Alliance’s programmes and transformation director, said: “We’re building the best railway Scotland has ever had and improved facilities for customers at our stations is a huge part of this.

“These additions to our car parks, combined with longer trains, more seats and better services, will all help us to achieve our aim of reducing the carbon footprint from door to door.”

A complete charge from the 22kW supply will typically take around four hours.

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A fleet of four electric vans, Nissan NV200s, is also being brought in by the company to replace a number of existing diesel vehicles.

Rebecca Roper, community manager at ChargePlace Scotland, said: “The addition of these charge points presents the opportunity for greener travel and also provides more recharging options at convenient locations for the increasing number of electric vehicles on Scotland’s roads.”