That is, if you’re lucky enough to find a place to park yourself.

On a visit yesterday morning, drivers could be seen heading down Railway Parade looking for a park in the commuter car park, only to head back out a minute later after a fruitless search.

Cars were spotted pulling up in the no-stopping zone on Lawrence Hargrave Drive so drivers could visit neighbouring businesses.

Timetable causes mayhem at Thirroul

One driver, who came out of the full car park at the corner of Railway Parade and Lawrence Hargrave Drive, spotted a driver leaving on the other side of Railway  Parade. He performed an illegal U-turn at the traffic lights, parked his car in the two-hour spot,  then got out and walked off to the train station.

It was a similar story on the eastern side of the train line, where previously quiet suburban streets now have cars parked all the way along.

Businesses along Lawrence Hargrave Drive say the new rail timetable is to blame.

Under the timetable introduced last month, morning and evening express services no longer stop at most northern suburbs stations.

The result is that at least some of those commuters are now driving to Thirroul and parking all day in car parks or suburban streets.

The parking problems led to signs going up two weeks ago in the IGA supermarket car park announcing two-hour parking. Customers had complained  some people were using it as an all-day car park.

The car park over the road behind Thirroul Plaza has also, in the past month, installed extra signs highlighting the two-hour limit.

Jamie Hottes, sales co-ordinator at Bevans Thirroul in Railway  Parade, said she started work in January last year and the parking situation was the worst she had seen it.

‘‘All the parking around the train station and along Railway  Parade  goes at 7am, before anybody around here gets to work,’’ Ms Hottes said.

She is forced to park in timed parking zones, meaning she has to leave the office every few hours to move her car, which means she then has to spend time finding another spot.

She said  Bevans’ real estate agents faced similar problems.

‘‘Most of the time with the agents, they’re going in and out,’’ she said.

‘‘When they come back in, they’ve said they do find it harder to find a parking spot.’’

Ms Hottes said the parking issues would affect restaurants and cafes in the area more than the real estate agency.

‘‘I think for the restaurants, that’s where it gets a little bit hard,’’ she said.

‘‘There’s nowhere for their patrons to park and have a quick bite to eat.

Ms Hottes said the lack of parking made Thirroul less accessible for visitors. She said  the railway station needed a multi-storey car park similar that at to Sutherland station.

Ann, who preferred not to give her last name, works at Bella Grace Interiors on Lawrence Hargrave Drive and she pinpointed when the streets of Thirroul became clogged.

‘‘I would say the day the train timetable changed was the day I couldn’t get a park,’’ she said.

Bella Grace owner Gail Murray said she parked her car at the rear of her shop and had often missed appointments because people parked across her driveway, blocking her access.

‘‘It’s been more noticeable since parking is at a premium,’’ Ms Murray said.

‘‘It virtually happens daily now, where it used to occur once every few weeks.’’

Ms Murray said customers had come into the store in the past month complaining about the lack of parking. But she said she was more concerned about the potential customers who never walked into her shop because they couldn’t park anywhere.

The parking crush is also spreading to suburban roads such as George and Lachlan streets just to the west of the station, where many more cars are now parked.

Mortgage Success mortgage broker John Rowlands runs a home/office in the old church on the corner of Lachlan Street and Lawrence Hargrave Drive.

He said parking in his street had become worse in the past month or so and he believed it was a result of local shoppers not being able to find a space close to the shops.

‘‘I just had an incident the other day where a car was three-quarters blocking our driveway,’’ Mr Rowlands said.

‘‘Forty-five minutes later, two mums came back from town pushing prams.’’

He said he’d also seen people park in the street during the day and head towards the main shopping strip. 

When driving home from work, Mr Rowlands said he had largely given up on the idea of stopping  at the Thirroul shops  because of the parking issues.

‘‘Basically, you can’t park around here,’’ he said.

‘‘I don’t ever bother to try and park around here.

‘‘People coming up here to catch trains has had an effect.’’