SPADES AT THE READY: ANDOVER STATION IMPROVEMENT WORK STARTS

Wednesday 16 May 2012

SPADES AT THE READY: ANDOVER STATION IMPROVEMENT WORK STARTS

Region & Route:: | Southern

· Comprehensive station improvement programme starts this week

· South West Trains unveils £700K investment scheme

· Passengers to benefit from modernised waiting area, attractive station frontage and extra parking

South West Trains has started work on a £700K project designed to revitalise Andover station. The three month improvement programme funded by the Government’s National Stations Improvement Programme scheme along with South West Trains and Test Valley Borough Council means passengers will soon benefit from a raft of enhancements. Station upgrades include the refurbishment of the waiting room, and a smart new station frontage.

Andover station’s forecourt will be reconfigured with more parking and drop-off spaces for cars, motorcycles and taxis. The existing toilets will be refurbished and a set of toilets will added to the Salisbury bound platform, giving a full complement of toilets on both platforms.

Jake Kelly, customer service director for the Network Rail and South West Trains alliance said: “Andover station’s forecourt will feel more spacious once the project is complete, enabling passengers to pass through the station more quickly and easily. Over the last few months, as well as adding a secure cycle compound at Andover, we have refurbished the booking hall and lowered the ticket office window for disabled passengers. The new station improvements will build on this, further strengthening our service to long distance commuters using Andover as their interchange.

He continued: “During this franchise we will be investing over £50m in our stations as these provide a gateway to our rail services. We appreciate being able to work with Test Valley Borough Council on this project”.

Notes to editors

For media enquiries please contact: Stagecoach Group Communications on 017 38 442 111 or email: media@stagecoachgroup.com

• South West Trains operates one of the busiest rail networks in Europe and runs almost 1,700 trains a day from London Waterloo. The company was named as Passenger Operator of the Year at the 2011 National Rail Awards.

• South West Trains is part of Stagecoach Group, a leading international public transport group with extensive operations in the UK, United States and Canada. Stagecoach employs around 35,000 people, and operates bus, coach, rail, and tram services.

• Stagecoach is one of UK’s biggest bus and coach operators. Around 2.5 million passengers travel on Stagecoach's 8,400 buses every day on a network stretching from south-west England to the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The company's business includes major city bus operations in London, Liverpool, Newcastle, Hull, Manchester, Oxford, Sheffield and Cambridge.

• Stagecoach is a major UK rail operator, running the South West Trains, Island Line and East Midlands Trains networks. It has a 49% shareholding in Virgin Rail Group, which operates the West Coast inter-city rail franchise.

• Stagecoach also operates the Supertram network in Sheffield.

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