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Friday 20 Sep 2013

Perth station bridges accessibility gap

Region & Route:

Scotland’s Railway: Scotland

Perth station’s new, fully-accessible passenger footbridge was officially opened today (Friday, September 20) by local MSP for Perthshire North John Swinney.

The £2.4m bridge provides step-free access via lifts to platforms one to five and has been delivered as part of the Access for All programme, which aims to improve access at stations for those with limited mobility.

Mr Swinney, the constituency MSP and the Scottish Government’s Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth, said: “It’s very welcome that Perth is the latest station to benefit from the Access for All scheme. These enhancements have protected the historic appearance of the station while also providing a huge increase in amenity for those travelling to or from Perth.

“This is a very significant investment in our station which underscores both the necessity of maximising access to rail travel for all in our communities, and the importance of Perth on Scotland’s national rail network.

“I would like to record my gratitude to the various organisations involved in realising this excellent step-free system and congratulate them on the quality of this end product.”

David Simpson, Network Rail route managing director for Scotland, added: “Rail travel is more popular now than ever before and this striking new bridge will help ensure that everyone in the community has the opportunity to easily access Perth station.”

The modern, glass and metal structure – which has been set slightly apart from the listed Victorian station buildings – was built by Network Rail between July 2012 and June 2013.

Perth is the 12th station in Scotland to benefit from the Government-funded Access for All scheme which supports the redevelopment of stations to provide step-free access and a range of other facilities, such as improved lighting, hearing induction loops and passenger information screens.

The programme is managed by Transport Scotland, which also selects the stations for enhancement, and is delivered by Network Rail. All the stations covered by the project are run by ScotRail.

Sean Duffy, commercial director for ScotRail, welcomed the improvements. He said: “The lifts are an excellent addition to Perth station, providing passengers with enhanced access to the ScotRail network and supporting our drive to encourage even more people to travel by train."

Other completed Access for All bridges and ramps in Scotland include those at Barrhead, Cupar, Dalmuir, Easterhouse, Kirkcaldy, Motherwell, Mount Florida, Rutherglen, Linlithgow, Montrose and Hyndland.

There are also five more projects currently under construction, at Dyce, Newton, Rosyth, Shotts and Gleneagles.