Call to fund improved access at rail platform
Improvements to Whitchurch train station should form part of the Government’s spending review on upgrading the rail service, the local MP says.
The southbound platform at the station can only be reached via a footbridge over the track, making it completely inaccessible for people in wheelchairs or with other mobility problems. Those with pushchairs also struggle to carry them up and down the steps.
North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson has written to the Chancellor highlighting the problems.
In a letter to Rishi Sunak, Mr Paterson says that improvement to access at the station should form part of the funding set aside in the Government’s Spending Review.
He said the ‘levelling up fund’ was a golden opportunity to get the world done.
The letter said: “In your statement you say that upgrades to railway stations would be prime projects for the new fund. Whitchurch railway station is an ideal candidate.
“In many cases people depend on trains to access key services. However the southbound platform at Whitchurch can only be reached by footbridge making it completely inaccessible for people in wheelchairs or with other mobility difficulties as well as for those with pushchairs.
“Clearly this is an unacceptable situation for which improvements are overdue.”
Mr Paterson said Whitchurch Town Council and the Shropshire Disability Network had already examined a number of potential possibilities including a new footpath to allow direct access to trains heading for Shrewsbury and beyond.
Network Rail had confirmed that, if funding was available, it would work with partners to make it accessible. The letter also asked how bids could be made.
