A LONG-RUNNING bid to secure better car parking at Pershore railway station has been boosted after rail chiefs mooted plans to move a £700,000 bridge to the town.
Network Rail has confirmed the bridge, which was due for another station, could now be installed in the town and a feasibility study will be carried out to assess whether it would be suitable for Pershore’s station.
If approved, the new bridge would connect the station to land owned by Wychavon District Council, allowing for a new 200 space car park to be built.
The news 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 has Mrs Baldwin hopes her lobbying of the Department for Transport and rail chiefs since 2015 will finally deliver a result.
“The new car park is part of a long-term strategy to ensure greater use of the station and more services stopping in the town,” she said.
“I’ve been pressing rail bosses for years about this challenge and we were originally told that a new bridge would be an un-affordable £4million. This is amazing news and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the feasibility studies go well and Wychavon is able to press on with their plans to construct the new car park.
“We have always thought that Pershore station should offer more car parking capacity, which would, in turn, mean that more people get on trains there, and the rail operators will be encouraged to offer more services.
“With the Link Road plans developing well and this piece of good news, the future feels incredibly positive for Pershore people,” she added.
