As the rail industry strives to improve accessibility to stations and trains, Northern and Network Rail have transformed accessibility for many stations in the north west. The working hours of more than 50 lifts across 25 Northern stations have now been extended ensuring that, when trains are running, the lifts can be used.
The upgrades have been carried out to provide passengers, particularly those with special mobility needs, with more reliable step-free access to platforms.
Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern, said: “We have inherited an ageing infrastructure, with many of our stations tracing their heritage and facilities back to the Victorian era.
“As an industry, we are working hard to modernise the network and the improvements made to the lifts will enhance the overall experience for our customers.
“This is a phased project to deliver improved accessibility and we will seek to roll out similar improvements at other stations in the future.”
Phil James, North West route director at Network Rail said: “The rail industry is working hard to improve accessibility and I hope projects like this demonstrate our commitment to give people with additional mobility needs the confidence to travel by rail.
“Extending the operating hours of the 50 lifts in 25 of Northern’s stations will mean passengers can travel more flexibly across the full timetable and help themselves when assistance staff are not on duty. We are delighted to work with Northern on this putting passengers first initiative.”
The full list of stations that have been upgraded is:
Altrincham, Ashton, Atherton, Barrow in Furness, Birchwood, Blackburn, Bolton, Buckshaw Parkway, Cheadle Hulme, Deansgate, Huyton, Kirkham & Wesham, Leyland, Manchester Victoria, Marple, Newton-le-Willows, Manchester Oxford Road, Poulton-Le-Fylde, Roby, Rochdale, Salford Central, Salford Crescent, St Helens Central, Warrington Central, Warrington West, Wigan Wallgate.
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