Greater Anglia has announced that it has become one of the first train operating companies in England to offer free water to its railway passengers at one of its stations.
This is all part of a drive to reduce the amount of single-use plastic bottles that people use.
Passengers can now help themselves to free water from the new fountain at Chelmsford which was opened this week by Councillor Kevin Bentley, Deputy Leader of Essex County Council.
The train operator is investing more than £30,000 into the initiative and is now looking to roll it out at more stations on their network.
What did the officials say?
Simone Bailey, Greater Anglia's Asset Management Director, said:
“Chelmsford is one of the busiest stations on our network and we hope that by providing free water, it will help makes passengers' journeys a little easier. Customers will also be able to claim a free re-usable water bottle at the official opening.
“We care about the environment, so we are delivering a number of projects to improve our energy-efficiency and operate in a more sustainable manner – from installing LED lighting, to recycling food, to providing free electric car charging points.
“We already recycle as much of our waste as possible. We have increased our recycling by 71% over the past five years, but we are looking to increase that figure even further.”
Deputy leader of Essex County Council, Kevin Bentley, said:
“I use Chelmsford station a lot and am very pleased that it now has a water fountain.
“Not only is water good for you, but using the machine helps to save on plastic. It's important to reduce plastic bottles.”
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Greater Anglia will also install more of these free water refill points at other stations including London Liverpool Street, Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Cambridge and Stansted Airport.