Chiltern Railways celebrated today after over £1 million of improvements for rail users in Buckinghamshire were officially unveiled.
In partnership with Network Rail and Bucks County Council, Chiltern Railways invested £630,000 to make improvements to Aylesbury station and Princes Risborough station.
The company also invested £500,000 to restore a 1960s ‘bubble car’ to help with providing additional capacity during busier times of the day on the Chiltern Railways line.
For the official celebration the company asked Josh Hailey from year 3 at Oak Green School to unveil a plaque at Aylesbury station.
The company has a strong community relationship with the school and previously the children have created beautiful hanging baskets at a number of stations and are currently working on a project called ‘Helping Hands’ where they will produce a piece of art for Aylesbury station.
Chad Collins, General Manager South at Chiltern Railways said:
“We’re delighted to be officially unveiling these improvements for our passengers today and we’re proud of the results. Aylesbury station now has a larger and brighter waiting area with additional seating and cycle parking.
“We’ve also got additional ticket gate which will mean less congestion during busy periods. We have also refurbished the toilets and installed light sensors in the toilets and energy efficient hand dryers reducing our energy consumption.”
The celebrations at Aylesbury concluded with the children from the school waving off the new class 121 bubble car on its journey to Princes Risborough to be greeted by Buckinghamshire String Quartet for a ribbon cutting to celebrate the improvements at this station.
Chad continued: “At Princes Risborough, we now have a larger waiting area, with access for our disabled passengers through wide sliding doors and refurbished toilets and additional cycle parking. We’d like to thank all our customers at both stations for their patience whilst this work took place.”
Kate Marjoribanks, Engineering Director at Chiltern Railways said:
“The introduction of our new class 121 bubble car is a significant benefit to all our Chiltern Railways passengers. Having this train on our line enables us to free up more trains for our busier periods.
“Many of you will have already travelled on our other 121 bubble car and this will still be in operation, but our new train enables us to spend time keeping it maintained and still free up other trains.”
Chris Rowley, area general manager for Network Rail, said:
“The improvements at Aylesbury and Princes Risborough have given passengers lighter, brighter stations, better cycle parking and new toilet facilities. This investment has made travelling by a rail a more attractive and enjoyable option for local people and we’ll continue working with our colleagues at Chiltern Railways to deliver a top-class service for passengers.”
