Friends of Beeston Station (FOBs) are over the moon as work has begun on building lifts at Beeston Station.
This has come about through 7 years of FOBs quietly campaigning to make the Station accessible to all rail users, including those in wheelchairs as well as those less able to climb stairs.
Trish Roberts-Thomson, the Chair of FOBs, said: ‘It’s been a long road but we’ve got there in the end. We’re delighted and amazed that workmen have finally gone on site today!’
Trish said: ‘We’re particularly grateful to the Department of Transport and their Access for All Fund, responsible for providing the money for the lifts, and to Network Rail, supported by East Midlands Railway, who put forward the bid. This was also supported by our MPs, our current MP Darren Henry and our former MP Anna Soubry, along with Broxtowe Borough Council and the County Council.’
‘Over the years there has been a lot of collaboration between the authorities, the landowners and the community along with a shared commitment to make the Station accessible. We’re very grateful to everybody involved.’ Trish said.
One of the key moments in the journey was in successfully challenging the designation of ‘accessible’ that the Station had had before. In 2019 Nusrat Ghani MP, the then Minister for Rail, came to the Station on a wet and bleak day in February and realized that a 500m round journey from one platform to the other, stretched even her understanding of an ‘accessible station’!
The building of the lifts and the new stairs is expected to be completed in autumn this year. In the meantime there will be some disruption to station users as the construction takes place.
Photo by Alice Kirwan