Calls to improve disabled access to Newbury Racecourse station

Great Western Railway says it will 'consider' request

NEITHER Great Western Railway nor developer David Wilson Homes have ruled out the possibility of making Newbury Racecourse station more accessible for people with disabilities.

Greenham Parish Council recently wrote to the rail giant asking it to consider making the improvements.

GWR responded by saying it had a 10-year plan to make certain stations more accessible for disabled people, but that the racecourse was currently not on that list.

However, it assured the parish council that its letter would be “passed on for consideration”.

As part of the ongoing 1,500-home Newbury Racecourse development, developer David Wilson Homes has committed to paying £150,000 to make improvements to the racecourse station.

Among them are improvements to the ticketing and waiting areas and the introduction of real-time information.

There are also plans to make improvements to the existing passenger footbridge and a new passenger waiting room on the eastbound platform.

However, there is no mention of whether the improvements will make the station more accessible for disabled people.

David Wilson Homes project manager Daniel Pavely said: “The exact use of the Rail Improvement Fund has not yet been decided.

“David Wilson Homes are in discussions with Network Rail and Great Western Railway over the use of the funds and are keen to ensure that the money delivers improvements over and above those which GWR would normally be expected to carry out as part of their franchise agreement.

“The improvements may well include enhancements to assist people with a disability.

“However, the addition of a ramp bridge across the line is likely to cost in excess of £1.5m and therefore this is not something that the funding from the Racecourse housing development could cover.”

At a Greenham Parish Council meeting held earlier this month, councillors reiterated the importance of making the station accessible to all.

Parish councillor Ernie Hicks, who last week resigned from the council, said at the meeting: “If disabled people cannot have access to the Newbury Racecourse station, that is pretty poor.”

Councillor Gary Puffett agreed, adding: “Disabled racegoers should be able to use the station too.”

Phil Barnett, who resigned as Greenham Parish Council chairman before the meeting, said: “If we look around the country there are a lot of old stations that we never thought would be disabled- friendly, but now they are.

“A lot of stations are being modernised and I think we as a parish council should say we want to see the racecourse station being used by everyone of our residents who wants to use it.

“We need to make sure it is accessible to all.”

Councillor Teresa King said: “The station was built for the benefit of racegoers and no-one has mentioned it [disabled access] before. Unfortunately, Great Western Railway are not here for our benefit.

She added: “I am not saying whether that is right or wrong, but GWR probably think ‘there are facilities at Newbury’. I’m just pre-empting what they’ll probably say.”

However, councillor Julian Swift-Hook remained upbeat, saying: “The letter from GWR is not saying no, it is just saying it is not currently in our plans.”