REFURBISHED ASHFORD INTERNATIONAL UNVEILED

Friday 12 Mar 2010

REFURBISHED ASHFORD INTERNATIONAL UNVEILED

Region & Route:: | Southern

Ashford International was today officially unveiled by Damian Green, MP for Ashford, to the public following a six month refurbishment project to create a better station environment for passengers. The refurbishment cost £2.4 million, with £1.2 million provided by the National Stations Improvement Programme (NSIP) and a further £1.2 million given by Ashford’s Future from central government growth area funding.

Vince Lucas, service delivery director, Southeastern said, “Today marks the end of six months of hard work which will benefit all passengers using the station. The new improvements will help create an environment where they can feel comfortable and welcome. Coming on the back of the introduction of the high speed service, Ashford now has a station to match these exciting times. This project is another example of how partnership working can help benefit everyone and we hope this can set the example for not only elsewhere in the South East but throughout the country.”

The work includes:
· Extension of the entrance booking hall to include more seating and a coffee bar
· Two new entrance/exits incorporating automatic doors to the station front
· Improved lighting on the station concourse
· Enhanced access and heated waiting area on platforms five and six
· Additional seating and refurbished toilets on platforms one, two, five and six

Damian Green, MP for Ashford said, “"Train travellers from Ashford, and visitors to the town, deserve the best and most modern facilities to complement our excellent transport links. It is great to see the new improved station fully operational."

Mike Smith, Network Rail’s route enhancement manager for Kent, added: “With record levels of punctuality and a major programme of investment underway to enable longer trains to run, providing more seats for passengers, we can now put increased focus on improving stations. The new facilities at Ashford are a great example of how the rail industry is working together to bring Britain’s stations into the 21st century.”

Judith Armitt, managing director of Ashford’s Future, said: “Visitors to Ashford International are now greeted by a bigger, brighter and better station, providing a more pleasant point of arrival. The introduction of high speed services is a transformational change for Ashford and improvements to the station were vital to give travellers a fitting welcome to this growing town.”

Notes to editors

About the National Stations Improvement Programme (NSIP):

The national stations improvement programme is a £150m Department for Transport backed rail industry scheme to enhance 150 medium sized stations in England and Wales. The initiative responds to the key needs of passengers, to provide safe, secure and comfortable stations, and provide suitable information.

About Southeastern:

Southeastern runs train services into London from Kent and East Sussex, operating some 1800 trains a day, carrying more than 400,000 passengers a day, serving 176 stations and covering 480-miles of railway infrastructure.

Southeastern is owned by Govia, a joint venture between the Go-Ahead Group (65 per cent) and Keolis (35 per cent).

Govia is the most enduring partnership between transport operators delivering rail franchises in this country.

It is the UK’s busiest rail operator, responsible for 28.7 per cent of UK passenger rail journeys through its three rail companies, Southern, Southeastern and London Midland. Further information on Govia is available at: www.govia.info

Go-Ahead Group plc is one of the UK's leading providers of passenger transport services operating in the bus, rail and aviation services sectors.

Keolis is a French-based operator of transport services in Europe and Canada and is owned by AXA Private Equity, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, SNCF and Keolis management.

About Ashford’s Future:

Ashford has been identified by the Government as one of the key growth areas in the South East and is now the fastest growing town between London and the Continent. It is set to double in size by 2031, creating 28,000 extra jobs and 31,000 new homes.

Ashford’s Future is a delivery company supporting the partnership of government and private sector bodies working to deliver the regeneration and growth of Ashford.

Ashford’s Future partners comprise Ashford Borough Council, Kent County Council, SEEDA (South East England Development Agency), the Homes and Communities Agency, Environment Agency, Learning and Skills Council, South East England Regional Assembly and the Highways Agency.

For further information visit www.ashfordbestplaced.co.uk

Ashford factbox

Key aspects of Ashford’s £2.5 billion investment programme include:

2 million sq ft of commercial development available
Introduction of high speed rail services to London in 2009, reducing travel time to 37 minutes
A £65m extension of existing County Square Shopping Centre, opened April 2008
Some of the best leisure and sports facilities in the South East, including a multi-million-pound redeveloped leisure centre and international standard athletics stadium
Development of large-scale residential neighbourhoods
£28m investment in transport schemes, including transformation of the Ashford ring road, M20 / J10 widening improvements, a new J10a and Park and Ride scheme
£24m investment to improve water supplies

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 - South East route
020 3357 7969
southeastroutecomms@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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