Published on: Wednesday, 26 April 2017
Last updated: Wednesday, 3 May 2017
A multi-million pound upgrade to Ingatestone station is to be officially opened on Thursday (27th April, 10.30am) by representatives of the Railway Heritage Trust and Greater Anglia.
The £2.4 million scheme has seen the restoration and repairs to station buildings and platform canopies, the creation of a new waiting room, electrical improvements including an upgrade to the lighting to make it more energy efficient, and upgrades to the customer toilet facilities (including an accessible toilet on both platform 1), and refurbishment of the footbridge.
Both platforms have been resurfaced and repaired, including widening them in places and improving the drainage.
Thanks to a £151k contribution from Railway Heritage Trust, Greater Anglia was also able to carry out work to restore the station’s heritage footbridge and some of the disused station buildings to enable them to be restored to their former glory and brought back into use.
On platform 2, the disused ticket office / booking hall has been completely renovated and given a new lease of life as a coffee shop, waiting room and new toilets.
A further scheme, funded by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) and Essex County Council, has seen new cycle storage facilities installed with storage for 48 bikes.
Andy Savage, Executive Director of the Railway Heritage Trust, said, “The Trust has been pleased to make a second investment into this superb historic station. In the late 1980s we invested in the restoration of the buildings on Platform 1 and the forecourt, and now, almost thirty years later, we have been able to see the footbridge restored and the London-bound building brought back into railway use. We congratulate Greater Anglia on the scheme, which shows how it is possible to sympathetically use the railway's Victorian heritage to serve the needs of today's railway and its passengers.”
Greater Anglia’s Director of Asset Management, Simone Bailey, said: “This significant programme of work at Ingatestone station means that passengers are now enjoying a safer, smarter and more pleasant station. Greater Anglia is committed to upgrading stations across the network to make customers’ journeys better.”