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Friday 15 Aug 2008

LOUNGING IN LIME STREET STATION

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Rail passengers using Lime Street station will be able to lounge in comfort next year thanks to a £3.4 million investment in the station by Network Rail.

Work starts this week (18 August) on two new passenger lounges, an information point, three shops and railway staff accommodation. The new facilities will be built on the old cab road between platforms seven and eight, which used to be used by Royal Mail vehicles and black cabs.

Peter Strachan, route director at Network Rail said: “Every day over a thousand passengers use the long-distance platforms at the station. At the moment, they have limited seating on that side of the station and virtually no other facilities.

“This investment is designed to get their journey off to a good start by giving them access to much needed seating, information, cash machines and other services that a station of Lime Street’s importance should provide for people making inter-city journeys.

“We spent a lot of time talking to the city planners to make sure that what we were proposing was acceptable to them and fitted in with the listed building status of the station. I think the end result will be something the people of Liverpool will appreciate and will look forward to using for many years to come.”

Gary Iddon, Virgin Trains General Manager Liverpool said: “Virgin Trains is delighted to be supporting this scheme which will enhance the station facilities for our customers and provide them and others with a first class lounge for the first time.”

There will be two separate air conditioned buildings on the old cab road constructed from environmentally friendly glulam timber beams covered in wood veneers, with frameless glass walls to the front and sides.

The building nearest the front of the station will include an information point, which will be staffed by Virgin Trains, and three retail units, one of which it is anticipated will provide refreshments.

The second building will be further down the old cab road towards the front of the trains and will have first and standard class passenger lounges, separated by a retail kiosk.

Welfare and other facilities for both Virgin Trains and East Midlands Trains staff will be incorporated in the buildings, which will have new customer information screens and be covered by CCTV linked into the existing station system.

Virgin Trains Station Manager Keith Millard added: “The new facilities will provide a real welcome to visitors to Liverpool Lime Street station and will also provide accommodation for our staff at the station for the first time.”

A new ceramic tiled passenger concourse will be created by installing a glass screen along the length of platform seven and new lighting will lift the existing lighting levels.

The ‘Cab Road’ development is part of a co-ordinated programme of work designed to improve all aspects of the visitor and traveller experience at Lime Street Station.

Preparation work has begun on the Lime Street Gateway project which will unmask the listed Victorian frontage of the station, providing an extensive new area of public realm along with much improved pedestrian access to and from the station and better links to the city’s cultural and retail quarters.

The project has been planned by national regeneration agency English Partnerships, Liverpool Vision and Liverpool City Council in conjunction with Network Rail, Merseytravel and the Railway Heritage Trust. The public realm will incorporate steps, slopes and lighting to improve access for all station users, and will involve the demolition of Concourse House and the row of shops in front of the main station building. Overall completion is scheduled for early 2010.