Electric vehicle charging points are to be installed at a number of railway stations across Wiltshire as part of a campaign to promote low-carbon motoring.
Train operator First Great Western (FGW) has been awarded £315,000 to install the chargepoints at 44 of its 210 stations, including Kemble, Chippenham, Trowbridge, Pewsey, Warminster and Westbury. Swindon station has not been included. 
The funding is part of a £9m boost by the Government for the Go Ultra Low campaign which is encouraging more drivers to use electric cars. It also aims to debunk myths and misconceptions about them.
FGW major projects manager Sarah McManus said the firm is taking part to improve the services it offers passengers.
“These charging points will enable customers to take full advantage of travelling in a more sustainable way, making their journey to our stations, and onwards by train,” she said.
The Go Ultra Low campaign is backed by five major car manufacturers including BMW, which has its main Mini pressings plant in Swindon, along with Nissan, Renault, Toyota and Vauxhall.
Electric car owners do not have to pay car tax or congestion charges and many chargepoints are free to use. The cars cost from 2p a mile to run, which means a family that drives an electric vehicle 10,000 miles in a year would save around £1,000 on fuel costs.
The £9m funding will be used to create hundreds more charging points across the country, including 140 new rapid chargepoints which can power up an electric car in less than half an hour. This will cement the UK’s position as one of the best for electric vehicle recharging networks in Europe.
Launching the scheme, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: “Electric cars are one of the most promising of our green industries and we want to secure the UK’s position as a global leader in both the production and adoption of these vehicles.
“The extremely low running costs of electric cars help drivers save money and we are allocating more than £9m to boost chargepoints across the country to help drivers to go green.
“This means we can lower UK emissions and create high-tech engineering and manufacturing jobs to boost our economy.”
