Arriva Trains Wales | £738,000 INVESTMENT PROGRAMME FOR SHREWSBURY STATION

£738,000 INVESTMENT PROGRAMME FOR SHREWSBURY STATION

Passengers using Shrewsbury Railway Station will benefit from a major refurbishment of Platform 3 thanks to investment from the Welsh Assembly Government, the Department for Transport and Shropshire County Council.

Wheelchair on platform The refurbishment project represents an investment of £738,000 and will be completed by March 2008. The investment package consists of £438,000 from Assembly Government, £250,000 from the Department for Transport’s Access For All fund, and £50,000 from Shropshire County Council.

The refurbishment work involves the installation of a lift from the ground floor to Platform 3, as well as improving the lighting system and station signage. Around 1.3 million passengers travel through Shrewsbury Railway Station each year and the refurbishment will improve the accessibility of Platform 3.

Network Rail is in the process of developing a parallel investment scheme to modify the track and signalling layout at Shrewsbury Station in order to optimise the use of Platform 3 which is currently only used by one service in one direction. A significant number of services would then be able to use it.

In addition, the Railway Stations at Wrexham, Pontypridd, Llandudno Junction and Chester will benefit from the installation of new technology which will enable the lifts to be remotely operated when the stations are unstaffed. This will be of benefit to disabled passengers as the lifts are locked out of use when there are no station staff on duty.

Arriva Trains Wales, commercial director, Mike Bagshaw said: "The works at Shrewsbury will considerably enhance the services provided by Arriva Trains Wales at a key station in our network. The projects to provide remote lift operation at other key stations will provide for access to the platforms whenever the stations are open."

Dave Koring, Rail Officer for Shropshire County Council, said: " This is an exiting project which will be of great benefit to users of Shrewsbury station, and is a good example of how co-operation between Wales and England can produce real benefits."

Andrew Davies, Minister for Enterprise, Innovation and Networks said: “I am pleased to be able to commit further funding for this important cross border station. This is a key passenger station for Welsh rail users and increased use of Platform 3 will help to increase performance of ATW’s services, including the Cambrian service.

“ I announced in my Written Cabinet Statement on the 1st December that Network Rail have undertaken an initial feasibility study on improving the Aberystwyth to Shrewsbury Cambrian mainline train service from two-hourly to hourly. There are a number of viable options including improved passing loops and a workable regular hourly pattern timetable on the mainline between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury which would benefit current performance levels and also improve journey times between the south and north sections of the Cambrian Coast railway through improved connections. Journey opportunities east of Shrewsbury would also be considerably improved.”

Additional Information

1. Over 1.3 million passengers use Shrewsbury station either directly or to transfer to other routes.

2. Passenger numbers have increased considerably since the introduction of Arriva Trains Wales even interval timetable in 2005.

3. The Welsh Assembly Government is currently planning additional Cambrian Coast services from 2009, which will add a further two trains per hour at Shrewsbury.

4. Although Shrewsbury Station is in England, it is a key passenger and operational location for Welsh rail services which is why the Welsh Assembly Government is providing additional funding.