RESPONSE TO GMPTE RELEASE RE ASHTON STATION

Wednesday 23 Jul 2003

RESPONSE TO GMPTE RELEASE RE ASHTON STATION

Region & Route:

Whilst the work at Ashton station is not fully complete, Network Rail has strongly refuted suggestions from Councillor Whitehead that passengers will have to wait until mid-August to benefit from the improvements. A spokesman said: “All the scaffolding that has been up at the station for months has gone. So have the temporary waiting shelters. The new ticket office is already in use, as is the new waiting room, access ramp and the canopy to the platform area. It is a nonsense to suggest that passengers have got to wait another month to use these facilities when already we have been getting complimentary comments from them about what a vast improvement there is at the station.” The passenger lift has been installed but cannot be brought into use until it has been inspected by HMRI (Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate), part of the Health & Safety Executive. This is normal procedure and something that Network Rail has no control over. As far as Network Rail is concerned, the work is substantially complete and passengers are using all the new facilities with the exception of the lift.

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