03.07.09
St Albans Abbey rail users get the hump
Passengers using St Albans Abbey station will soon need to find a new form of step exercise as a new addition to the platform makes it easier to get on and off trains
Jerry Swift, head of corporate responsibility at Network Rail, explains: “At the moment passengers with small children and pushchairs, the elderly or those with heavy luggage can find getting on and off trains difficult at St Albans Abbey. Now we think we have found the solution.”
Working with Hertfordshire County Council, the Department for Transport and train operator London Midland, Network Rail has designed a variable height platform to help bridge the gap between the platform and trains. The station becomes the second in the country to get a modular Easier Access Area, otherwise known as a ‘Harrington Hump’ after the station in Cumbria where a successful trial of the system took place earlier this year.
The beauty of the scheme is its simplicity. Rebuilding the platform to bring it up to modern standards would have cost around a quarter of a million pounds and given the number of passengers who use St Albans Abbey station, it could be years before funding becomes available. A hump can be designed, built and installed for around a tenth of the cost of raising an entire platform while still providing easier access for all.
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