This month a total of £18.7m is being made available to fund improvements to stations.
Projects must be able to deliver a financial return over and above cost. The money is the final tranche of a £100m fund to improve stations in England and Wales. Since the idea was launched by the DfT, Network Rail and the ATOC in April 2011, more than £80m has been authorised for projects ranging from park-and-ride schemes to new shops at stations.
The latest bids to get the green light were for a café, waiting room and ticket office and other improvements at Wakefield Kirkgate – a grade II listed building – and an ambitious 710 space multi-storey car park at Bristol Parkway.
Says rail minister Norman Baker, ‘Rail travel is not only about the time spent sitting on a train. Pleasant, attractive railway stations with the right facilities encourage more people to travel by rail. This coalition government’s Station Improvement Fund has so far seen £80m awarded to 38 stations and we are now making available another £20m to renovate and rebuild even more stations left to us by our Victorian forefathers.’
