20.11.19
£15m passenger benefit investment by GTR in first phase
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) have pledged a range of passenger benefits as part of a £15m station investment programme.
The first phase of the investment programme includes life-saving heart restarters, LED lighting and landscaping designed to improve passenger experience at GTR stations.
The initial improvements will be carried out at 59 stations on the network served by Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick and are to be completed by Spring 2020.
Passengers, rail user groups and councillors took park in over 4,200 surveys to provide input on the areas most in need of improvements.
The research enabled a list of projects identified for the best way to spend the £15m Passengers Benefit Fund.
Projects include the introduction of LED lighting, toilet refurbishing and station repainting.
Knebworth, Potters Bar, Hadley Wood and Welwyn Garden City station will be the first to see the introduction of life-saving automatic defibrillators, as soon as this month.
If successful, the GTR intends to introduce these devices at as many stations as possible.
Future phases of the scheme will look at additional platform shelters, extra seating and water fountains where people can make use of reusable water bottles, reducing the demand on single use plastic.
Keith Jipps, infrastructure director at GTR, said:
“I’m delighted we are beginning to deliver real improvements for passengers at our stations. The consultation we carried out was a huge success and I’d like to thank the thousands of passengers, stakeholders and community members who took part.”
The first phase will cost £1.2m of the £15m fund and additional investments of £15m into GTR stations brings the total investment to £30m.