£4.4m package of station improvements planned across Kent and SE London

Southeastern and Network Rail are to invest £4.4 million in a series of station improvements across Kent and South East London.

The project aims to provide better information for customers, renovate station buildings, and make the rail network more accessible under the government’s Access for All scheme.

Of the 21 stations set to receive funding, those in Kent are Canterbury East and West, Chatham, Faversham, Herne Bay, Margate, and Staplehurst.

Canterbury East will have its access ramps refurbished, and new small ramps will allow wheelchairs, mobility scooters and pushchairs to access the waiting room. The passenger information point on Platform 2 is to be relocated to a location more suitable for the new footbridge, lifts and night entrance, and supplemented with an additional information point and displays. Meanwhile, design work at Canterbury West will help to ease congestion.

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Chatham’s booking hall is to receive new power-assisted doors to improve access to the new lifts, as well as a redecoration. An intercom system will be installed on the side gates from the car park to summon assistance from the car park areas, and lighting will be added all around the station to improve the ambience.

Faversham will see general redecoration across the station.

Herne Bay’s station building, booking hall, and platforms will also be redecorated in keeping with the unique architecture and heritage of the station, the waiting room re-opened for passenger use, and the toilets refurbished with an improved accessible toilet. The small step into the Platform 1 waiting room is to be removed in efforts to make the station step-free. New customer information displays will be added to the out-of-hours entrance and Platform 1 will receive a new customer help point.

Margate continues its ongoing works with a refurbishment of the booking hall and general decluttering, and staff accommodation will be improved to give passengers better visibility. The building is to be brought back into use as a retail unit, following work on the exterior to return it to its original appearance.

Staplehurst is to receive improvements to its station building, and the crossing point to the approach road will be made more accessible.

David Wornham, Passenger Services Director for Southeastern, said: “We want the best possible facilities for our customers across our network which is why we’ve targeted our investment at stations where work to improve accessibility is about to begin or has recently been completed as a result of government investment under the Access for All scheme.

“Making stations step-free isn’t just about new lifts and footbridges but often also about the smaller but just as important items such as removing barriers to the use of waiting rooms, and ensuring that customer help points and information screens are in the right places.

“Where possible, we’re also taking the opportunity to spruce up paintwork and improve the ambience of these stations, as well as taking the opportunity to plan for the future as people return to the railway.”

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