Adopting a Station
Station adoption is a way of turning round uncared-for and unloved stations, bringing them back into the heart of the community and encouraging greater use of environmentally friendly public transport. It adds value to what is already there and helps make the station more attractive.
GMPTE have seen local groups such as Scouts, Church Groups and Community Organisations help them at stations, doing things like gardening and general cleaning and tidying. Having schools involved helps reduce graffiti and vandalism. With Station Adoption everyone can benefit.
Case Studies
Around the country people are improving their stations, here are four examples:
- Locally, Walkden Station has had problems for many years. Just over a year ago Friends of Walkden Station was formed. Use this link to go to our locally adopted stations page.
- Also in the area, Friends of Irlam Station and Friends of Eccles Station were both formed in 2005. For further details go to our locally adopted stations page.
Link to our locally adopted stations: ADOPTED STATIONS
- Handforth, on the fringes of Greater Manchester, is a stunning example of what community involvement with your local station can achieve. Working with a group of local friends and school children, a former railway engineer safeguarded the local suburban station’s future by improving its condition. Before, Handforth was a fairly ordinary, two-platform station between Stockport and Wilmslow. But today the station has its own garden, artwork and new booking office.
- The seaside town of Bridlington on the Hull-Scarborough line had a station that, a few years ago, was becoming increasingly run down. A few people came together and converted redundant station buildings into an excellent café and bar, an impressive local arts centre and a youth centre. The buildings are beautifully adorned with garlands of flowers in seasons and the station is becoming quite an attraction in itself.
ACoRP
Help with adopting stations is available from the Association of Community Rail Partnership.
The Association of Community Rail Partnerships – ACoRP – is a federation of over 60 community rail partnerships and rail promotion groups. It is an organisation focused on practical initiatives which add up to a better more sustainable local railway. Improved station facilities, better train services and improved integration with other forms of transport are central to the work of ACoRP and its members. They have a website at http://www.acorp.uk.com/