Passengers advised of urgent Lancaster station lift repairs next week

Wednesday 1 Nov 2023

Passengers advised of urgent Lancaster station lift repairs next week

Region & Route:: North West & Central; | North West & Central: North West

Rail passengers are being advised of urgent lift repairs at Lancaster station next week which will mean no step-free access to platforms 4 and 5.

Network Rail is carrying out the fix to make the lift serving the busy platforms more reliable after recent breakdowns.

The complexity of the important work means the lift will be out of use between Monday 6 and Friday 10 November.

It’ll affect passengers on intercity services to London, Birmingham, Manchester and Preston, and some trains towards Morecambe, Barrow and Leeds.

With the lift out of action, people are being advised to plan their journeys in advance by contacting their train operator’s Passenger Assistance service*.

Avanti West Coast Passenger Assist - 0345 528 0253
TransPennine Express Passenger Assist - 0800 107 2149
Northern Trains Passenger Assist - 0800 138 5560

For passengers planning to depart from Lancaster, alternative transport to the nearest stations with step-free access – Oxenholme for northbound journeys or Preston for southbound – can be booked in advance.

People are being advised to allow extra time for their journeys as a result.

Kara Wood, Network Rail’s North West head of performance and customer relationship, said: “We know there’s never an ideal time to close a lift and we’re sorry to passengers who’ll be affected by these urgent repairs next week. We’re calling in specialist lift engineers to repair ongoing problems with the lift’s control panel so it’s much more reliable for passengers in future.

“Unfortunately, the complexity of the repair means we’ve no choice but to take the lift out of service for several days. I’d urge people needing step-free access to platforms 4 and 5 to contact their Passenger Assistance teams as soon as possible to make alternative arrangements during the repair work.”

Michael Byrne, Avanti West Coast station manager at Lancaster, said: “We’re working with Network Rail and industry partners to help customers as these works take place. As always, our teams will be on hand to help customers travelling to and from Lancaster during this time but we strongly recommend customers plan ahead, check before they travel and leave extra time for their journey. We would like to thank customers for their patience while Network Rail undertake this work.”

The lift is due to be back in use on Saturday 11 November.

Passengers can always plan their journey in advance by visiting www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Notes to Editors

* How to book Passenger Assist

To book Passenger Assist for your next journey you can contact the train company you are starting your journey with, or check out the National Rail Enquiries assisted travel pages.

The National Rail Enquiries website has information on how to book assistance in a variety of ways, including the Passenger Assistance Smartphone App. It also has detailed information on the accessibility of all stations.  You can also call or text National Rail Enquiries to arrange assistance

call 0800 0223720
text 60083
textphone or minicom users can dial 0845 60 50 600.

Last minute requests (turn up and go)

All rail companies want passengers to feel confident when travelling by train and understand the importance of supporting flexible travel plans.

People needing additional help to board their train can ‘turn up and go’ without booking assistance in advance, but if they require assistance at short notice the advice is for them to please make themselves known to a member of staff or use a Help Point when they arrive at the station.

Where a station is staffed, they will always help you if they can. However, people should be aware that, on occasion, it could take a little longer as staff may be assisting other customers, dispatching a train, or looking after safety on the platform.

If staff are not able to help the person making the last-minute request straight away, they will explain clearly why not and do their best to assist as soon as they can.

Contact information

Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41

Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries

Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
0330 854 0100
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk

About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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