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Monday 21 Nov 2022

Work to make Royston station accessible gets under way

Region & Route:

Eastern

| Eastern: East Coast

A huge investment to bring lifts to Royston station and make it more accessible for passengers is now under way.

Over the coming months, Network Rail will build a new footbridge to provide Thameslink and Great Northern passengers with a quick and easy way to switch platforms.

The multi-million-pound project will see lifts installed on each platform to make the station accessible for the hundreds of thousands of passengers who use it each year. It will create a vital step-free route for people with limited mobility, families with pushchairs and cyclists.

Engineers will demolish the old bridge before lifting the new structure and lift shafts into place in spring 2023. The new facility is then set to open for passengers next summer, to allow everybody to make the most of the town’s rail connections to London, Cambridge and Brighton.

Jonny Ham, Lead Portfolio Manager for Network Rail, said: “It’s great to see the new bridge finally starting the construction phase. Making the station more accessible will make a huge difference for thousands of passengers and help more people to travel by train with confidence.

“People will start to see changes happening around the station, so I’d like to thank them for their patience and hope they look forward to using a brand-new accessible bridge and lifts next summer.”

Tom Moran, Managing Director for Thameslink and Great Northern, said: “This is really great news for our customers at Royston and will open up the railway at this station to so many more people. Big projects such as this are a crucial part of our drive to create a more accessible and inclusive railway, where everyone has the confidence to travel no matter what their need for assistance.”

Originally planned to open in early 2023, the project has faced delays due to the challenging environment for construction projects currently.

ENDS