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Wednesday 8 May 2013

Work starts to refurbish historic Frome railway station

Region & Route:

| Wales & Western: Western

| Wales & Western

Work has started on a £500,000 project to refurbish and repair the Grade II listed railway station at Frome in Somerset.

Improvements to the 163-year-old station will include timber repairs and strengthening, masonry and glazing repairs, cleaning and redecoration, the removal of vegetation and alterations to guttering.

Network Rail will also replace the electrical wiring and lighting in the station buildings and platforms to meet the latest standards, making sure the historic station is fit for the future.

The original train shed at the station remains almost entirely intact and is probably the last of its type still in use in the Western region. Over the past 163 years, its condition has deteriorated and it now needs extensive refurbishment and repairs to restore it to its former glory.

Robin Basu, Network Rail’s community relations manager for the Western route, said: “The railway station at Frome is an exceptionally important example of its period and type still in use on Britain’s rail network.

“It has become a major landmark in Frome and is a dominating piece of historic railway architecture of national importance. But it now needs additional strengthening and repair works to allow it to comply with the modern structural standards and requirements for stations and to protect it from further deterioration.”

The station was built by the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway, a railway that linked the Great Western Railway (GWR) at Chippenham with Weymouth.

The line was authorised in 1845, was acquired by the GWR in 1850, reached Frome in the same year, and was completed throughout in 1857. This line forms the basis for today's Bristol to Weymouth route and is now managed by train operator, First Great Western.

Refurbishment work began in April 2013 and will take 14 weeks to complete. Network Rail continues to work closely with the Friends of Frome Station and the local community during the works in order to maintain and build relationships within the community.