03.07.12
£16m improvements to SWT stations before Olympics
South West Trains stations have had a welcome accessibility upgrade ahead of the Olympics, costing £16m.
Upgrades have taken place atWeymouth,Wimbledon, Windsor & Eton Riverside, Southampton Central and Clapham Junction, while Vauxhall will soon benefit from improvement works.
The improvements include new and larger booking halls, additional gatelines, refurbished toilets, new waiting rooms, leveled access to the stations, new seating, improved ticket facilities and information screens, wheelchair access and retail units.
The works have been funded by SWT, the DfT, the ODA and the various councils.
Tim Shoveller, managing director of the South West Trains-Network Rail ‘deep alliance’, said: “More than £16m has been invested by our alliance and stakeholders in upgrading our stations to improve passenger journeys to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“As well as going the extra mile for the British Olympic sailing team by providing generous and on-going support, we have also pulled out all the stops for passengers travelling to and from the Olympics by providing the maximum available additional capacity on our services.”
Hugh Sumner, director of transport for the Olympic Delivery Authority, said: “A fantastic effort has been made by the nations’ train operating companies to prepare as much as possible ahead of the Games. Spectators will benefit from enhanced services and improved infrastructure to ensure they can get to their events on time.”
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Image courtesy Paul Gillett, used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic licence.