Rail stations shamed into upgrading

Virgin: Owning 50% of the nation's worst stations

After The Times issued a report naming and shaming 'Britain's worst 10 railway stations', train companies have today vowed to undertake a major refurbishment of dilapidated stations.

Slammed in the report were Virgin Trains who had five of their stations appear in the Top 10 that were selected by Government inspectors. As a result, they've said they will invest £100 million in order to secure a radical overhaul of the railway.

Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson even voiced his opinion on the matter saying, "Stations are clearly in need of major overhaul and, with public finances under constraint, the time is right for the private sector to be even more heavily involved in pioneering projects that would radically change public perceptions."

As opposed to the usual vague promises preferred by big companies, Virgin have actually outlined their planned improvements; among them are plans to make things easier for elderly passengers by installing escalators at their Crewe and Preston stations.

The company also said it would 'modernise' the underground passage at Wigan North Western, where passengers currently have to endure large puddles from leaking drain pipes. Better car parking and cleaner toilet facilities were also mentioned at the likes of Stockport and Warrington Bank Quay.

Big changes

After The Times' report, Lord Adonis, the Transport Secretary and an entourage of transport executives are currently making a similar assessment of the nation's stations. According to the paper, for which he writing a diary of his travels for, he is less than impressed so far, whilst at Clapham Junction,

"There is no obvious evidence of any investment or modernisation at Clapham Junction for 30 years apart from the installation of some new lifts," he wrote.

"One of Europe's busiest stations, it doesn't have a single escalator, the platform canopies cover only a minority of the congested platforms, there is virtually no waiting area and no bike parking that I could see."

Lord Adonis has said the Government will provide £50 million to improve the ten worst stations in the country, though industry experts feel hundreds of millions are needed.

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