Media centre

Monday 24 Jun 2019

New bridge structure is step towards step-free access at Kilwinning

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Network Rail has reached a significant milestone in the delivery of step-free access at Kilwinning station with the installation of the final section of steelwork on the new footbridge.

Part of a £4m investment in the North Ayrshire station, the three-span footbridge with lifts and stairs will give step-free access to all platforms and significantly enhance the journey experience for those with impaired mobility or travelling with children, luggage or bikes.

Delivered by Story Scotland on behalf of Network Rail, work at the station includes upgrades to the CCTV system, train notice boards and lighting as well as enhancing the station frontage and waiting areas and resurfacing the car park.
With the steel structure of the bridge in place, the focus of work now turns to completing the installation of three new lifts, cladding the lift shafts, enhancing the station entrances and re-instating platform signage and furniture removed to accommodate work.

Susan Rennie, Network Rail’s project manager for the work, said: ”This project is one of the biggest to be carried out in Scotland as part of Access For All and technically challenging due to the layout of the station and the scale of the structure required.

“The work is going really well and over the summer we will deliver the final phase of construction that will allow us to open the new bridge and lifts in the autumn.

“We appreciate that the scale of this work has been inconvenient for those living near-by as well as those who use the station and we thank everyone for their patience.

“Ensuring we have facilities in place at stations so everyone can access our railway with minimal assistance or inconvenience is one important way in which we are putting passengers first.”