RAIL chiefs have repeated their support for plans to improve Pershore railway station and add a new, larger car park for rail users as a new longer platform was unveiled for town commuters.
Network Rail chiefs made the vow just days after the completion of important station platform extensions in just seven days to allow the station to handle longer trains on the busy route from the county to London.
The backing is the next chapter in the long-running saga over improvements to Pershore railway station’s car park which has seen town MP Harriett Baldwin demand action from rail chiefs to take the project forward.
Fed-up commuters have been calling for a bigger car park at the town’s station for more than a decade and Mrs Baldwin has been leading the campaign to end the impasse over car park which has been at the centre of war of words between Network Rail and landowners Carlton Smith Ltd since 2002.
A plan to build a new car park opposite the station has been developed by Wychavon District Council and Pershore’s MP has been lobbying the Department for Transport, Great Western Railways and Network Rail to find an affordable scheme to connect the new car park to the station.
Network Rail director Mark Langman visited the town earlier in the month to meet with Mrs Baldwin and her colleague Nigel Huddleston MP, to discuss platform improvements and plans to build an additional new car park.
“The swift completion of platform improvements is good news for Pershore rail users and I am glad for the repeated commitment from Network Rail supporting the plans to make more use of this popular station, Mrs Baldwin said.
“I met with Mark Langman in Westminster during the summer and he agreed to visit the town and talk about how we can try to overcome the hurdles which had made this project disproportionately expensive.”
“I am grateful for Mark’s commitment to make this project move forward and it is now down to me and Nigel to lobby the Department for Transport to get its approval for this scheme.
“This project has always looked too expensive on paper so I am pleased that Network Rail has now signed up to work towards finding a quicker, value-for-money scheme,” she added.
