London Midland

Northampton's new railway station to open in one week's time
_______________________________________________________________

date 5 January 2015
source London Midland
type Press release

London Midland is reminding customers that there is just one week to go until the new Northampton railway station opens.

The doors to the town’s new £20 million facility will open to the public on Monday, 12 January 2015. The current building will close in the early hours of Monday, 12 January after the last service arrives into Northampton at 02.43*

The new station building will open at 04.00 hours, ready for the first train service to depart Northampton at 04.15 for London Euston.

London Midland expects queuing times to get on and off the platforms to reduce, as there are now ten ticket gates, compared to just four in the old building. However, customers are advised to allow more time when first using the station to familiarise themselves with the new layout and ticket gate operation.

Previously, customers showed their tickets and travel cards to revenue officers who manually operated the gate. With the new gates, customers feed their tickets and travel cards (only those with a magnetic strip on the reverse) into the machine and the gates open automatically. The machine retains the ticket once the journey is complete, so customers who would normally keep their ticket for the reimbursement of travel expenses will need to ensure that they request a receipt at the point of purchase, either from the ticket vending machine or the ticket booking office.

Dawn Watkins, London Midland’s station manager at Northampton said, “It’s really important that customers remember to get a receipt, as we will not be able to remove individual tickets after they have been fed into the machine. This type of ticket barrier is in operation at most busy stations up and down the country, so it won’t be anything new to commuters, but we’re keen to get the message out to everyone.

“The ticket gates will be staffed, so assistance can be provided if customers are unsure what to do. There are also two extra wide gates for people travelling with wheelchairs, heavy luggage or pushchairs”.

Now the station has been formally accepted and is under London Midland’s management, work can begin on fitting out the new retail units. In the coming weeks Starbucks, Coffee Republic, WHSmith and Enterprise car rental will all open brand new outlets within the station building. In the interim period a temporary coffee station will be installed on the main concourse so customers can purchase hot drinks.

Network Rail are scheduled to remove the temporary footbridge and lifts to the right of platform one over the weekend of 10 – 11 January, and hope this will be complete ready for the opening on Monday.

Northampton is London Midland’s fifth busiest station of the 148 it manages, with 2.8 million passengers travelling through the station each year.

Terry Oliver, London Midland’s head of West Coast services said, “We look forward to welcoming customers to the new station.

“Northampton is one of our busiest stations and I’m delighted that residents and visitors are set to receive an improved service, thanks to the new station building and the 36,000 extra seats every week we are providing on Northampton train services”.

The new station development was led by a partnership between Network Rail, Northamptonshire County Council and Northampton Borough Council.

At 2,500 square metres, the new building is more than twice the size of the old station and is better equipped to meet the growing number of visitors and commuters travelling to and from the town.

The station is fully accessible with a lift between the car park entrance and the booking hall. The booking hall leads to a new overbridge with covered stairs and lifts to all platforms.

Cllr Jim Harker, leader of Northamptonshire County Council, said: “The new Northampton station will be a modern, fitting gateway into the town and our county and I’m delighted that work has now been completed. The county council is pleased to have been instrumental, including our critical financial support, in making this tremendous asset for Northampton become a reality.”

Councillor David Mackintosh, leader of Northampton Borough Council, said: "The new station looks fantastic, and it's long past time that Northampton had this kind of facility.

"Rail use is increasing and we want to ensure anyone visiting our town has the brightest welcome possible. The increase in ticket barriers will also help remove bottlenecks which are a peak-time feature at the current station.

"This and all our other Northampton Alive projects are changing the face of our town for the better."

Terry Strickland, area director for Network Rail, said: “The new station is a fantastic addition to the town. Its modern design and new facilities provide a fitting gateway to Northampton and is the latest example of investment in the rail network to meet the demands of an increasing number of passengers."

ENDS



Notes to Editors

*The 02.43 arrival into Northampton will be a rail replacement bus service.



For further information contact

Network Rail: 0161 880 3142

London Midland: 0121 654 1278

Northamptonshire County Council: 01604 367324

Railhub Archive ::: 2015-01-05 LON-001