Published on: Tuesday, 1 September 2015
Last updated: Wednesday, 5 October 2016
Passengers at a Suffolk railway station are set to benefit from better waiting facilities after it was awarded a grant to build a canopy.
The East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership (ESLCRP) has been successful in securing a £25,000 grant for Station House Community Connections to help restore the canopy at Wickham Market Rail Station in Campsea Ashe.
The canopy at The Abellio Greater Anglia station was removed in the 1970s. The grant will go toward restoring the platform canopy to provide a convenient place for passengers to wait for their train.
The ESLCRP was awarded the money by the Association of Community Rail Partnerships (ACoRP) who administer a designated fund on behalf of the Department for Transport.
Aaron Taffera, Chairman of the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership, said: "We’re very happy that the East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership is able to provide this grant to help restore the canopy at Wickham Market Station. As a Designated Community Rail Service the East Suffolk Line is able to benefit from funding that helps make improvements to the stations, facilities, and service. Passengers will see real benefits from this scheme and the continuing work of the CRP."
Brian Barnsley, Operations Manager ACoRP, said: “The Association of Community Rail Partnerships and the partners of the Designated Community Rail Development Fund are delighted to support the re-instatement of the station canopy at Wickham Market station with a grant from the fund. We look forward to seeing the work progress and indeed the full restoration of the Station House.”
Station House Community Connections is a not-for-profit group restoring the now vacant station for community use who will use the grant to begin the process of building the new canopy which will also see the commissioning of three spandrels as supports.
Robert Webb, Chairman of Station House Community Connections, said: “The funding via the Community Rail Partnership will contribute to the building of the renewed canopy at the Station House and is a fantastic boost to our objective of bringing the building back into use as a community facility. It will provide practical benefits to station users and renew the identity and sense of place to this new and exciting community resource.”