Poor state of Shrewsbury’s railway station discussed in Parliament
The poor state of Shrewsbury’s railway station was yesterday discussed during a parliamentary debate in Westminster.
Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, told Claire Perry, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport about the poor state of the station which last year had over 1.8 million users.
Mr Kawczynski, highlighted a number of issues including the poor state of the Dana steps. He said, constituents had repeatedly raised concerns about the fact that the Dana steps are not safe late at night, because the lighting is insufficient and there are no CCTV cameras. The amount of rubbish, litter and broken glass in the area was also noted.
Industrial waste, weeds, the poor state of the Dana footbridge, litter and broken netting which stops birds going above the platform roof space was also brought up by the MP.
In response, Claire Perry said that £2m had been spent on the station over a period of nine years and that another £2m was to be spent over the current five-year capital period.
A refurbishment of the existing toilets and the introduction of a disability toilet are to be completed soon along with refurbishing the station canopies, decorating the external platform areas and resurfacing the station car park.
The refurbishment of the Dana footbridge has been costed at £800,000, with work to be carried out during 2015-16.
Following the debate Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham said:
“I’m very pleased with how the debate went, I have been talking to Claire Perry regarding the state of the station for some time. When her boss Patrick McLoughlin, the Secretary of State for Transport visited the station in December for the launch of the Shrewsbury to London Virgin train service he saw for himself the state of the station.
"I was delighted with the promise of £800,000 to be spent on the Dana footbridge and I’m especially grateful to one of her officials who took the time to come to Shrewsbury to photograph the areas of concern I had highlighted.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the improvements.”
Mr Kawczynski, also said he would be pressing her and Virgin Trains to try to increase the frequency of the new direct rail service to London if he was re-elected in May. “If we can attract more national and international tourists from our capital city to Shropshire, it can only be good for our local economy.” He said.
