Improvements to Make Farnborough More Accessible now Complete

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Oct 20, 2011, 07:00 ET

LONDON, October 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

Phase 1 completed: station forecourt allows for improved bus and taxi interchange
Completion of phase 2 includes new footbridge with lifts to all platforms and new secure bike compounds, together with additional 132 cycle spaces
Phase 3 announced to include refurbishment of station facilities and toilets.

Rail passengers in Farnborough received more good news today after plans were unveiled to refurbish facilities at the station. The announcement came on the day Rail Minister Norman Baker officially opened the new footbridge, lifts and cycling facilities.

The third phase of work will include improvements to key passenger facilities, including ticket office refurbishment and improved passenger facilities. Work is expected to be completed in Spring 2012.

The second phase of the project, which was funded through the government's national Access for All programme, included the installation of a new footbridge and two new lifts, making it easier and safer for passengers to move around the station. This will be particularly welcomed by disabled passengers, those with luggage and parents with pushchairs.

The Department for Transport also funded an additional 132 cycle spaces, delivered by South West Trains. The new bike racks are equipped with secure compounds and the total number of spaces has risen to 294.

Rail Minister Norman Baker was joined by Andy Pitt, Managing Director of South West Trains and Richard O'Brien, Network Rail's Route Managing Director for Wessex to carry out the official opening ceremony.

Rail Minister Norman Baker said: "Passengers' experience of rail travel can owe much to the station environment. For cyclists, that can mean having somewhere secure to leave their bikes, and for people with disabilities the design of the station may determine whether they can use the rail network at all.

"So despite the need to reduce the deficit, we have continued with the Access for All Programme to provide step free access to stations like Farnborough. And we want more people to find alternatives to driving to the station, which cycle facilities like those at Farnborough should help to encourage."

Andy Pitt, South West Trains Managing Director, said: "I am pleased to see these improvements being delivered for passengers at Farnborough. The new cycling facilities and footbridge will not only make getting to, from and through the station easier, but will help reduce local road congestion and offer a healthier travel option for those who might otherwise have left their bikes at home.

"The next phase of improvements to Farnborough station will make a big difference for passengers at Farnborough. Providing better access and facilities will help improve the journey experience for passengers along this busy route."

Richard O'Brien, Network Rail's route managing director for Wessex, said: "Businesses and the community in Farnborough rely on the railway to make thousands of journeys every day. The new lifts and footbridge will make a huge difference for passengers and together with other recent improvements to station facilities, will make it much easier to travel by train."

In the last year Farnborough has benefitted from a new redesigned bus and coach interchange at the station. The refurbished station forecourt area has been equipped with real time information screens and shelters and the newly opened dedicated bus and coach area has allowed Stagecoach South to start operating its popular VIP bus service, Goldline, into the station. This now serves Aldershot, Farnborough, Frimley, Camberley and Old Dean.

The station forecourt has also been equipped with new dedicated taxi lanes as well as a 20 minute waiting and pick up area.

Picture: left to right - Richard O'Brien, Network Rail Wessex Route Managing Director, Rail Minister Norman Baker and Andy Pitt, Managing Director for South West Trains.

More pictures available on request.

Notes to Editors

Stagecoach Group is a leading international public transport group, with extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. The company employs around 35,000 people, and operates bus, coach, rail, and tram services.
Stagecoach is one of UK's biggest bus and coach operators. Around 2.5 million passengers travel on Stagecoach's 8,400 buses every day on a network stretching from south-west England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The company's business includes major city bus operations in London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Cambridge.
Stagecoach is a major UK rail operator, running the South West Trains, Island Line and East Midlands Trains networks. It has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast inter-city rail franchise.
Stagecoach is also running Sheffield tram.