Arriva Trains Wales has announced that they have invested over half a million pounds into upgrading Colwyn Bay railway station.
The investment is part of a series of projects to upgrade stations to make them better for passengers.
The funding, through the Department for Transport's NISP budget, has allowed the train operating company to make a variety of improvements.
Colwyn Bay is an important station on the North Wales Coast route, which links Manchester, Chester and Crewe with Llandudno, Bangor and Holyhead.
Tourism is a big part of the station's importance, with the Welsh Mountain Zoo round the corner, the zoo also runs a free shuttle bus from the rail station.
The project has created a more accessible station with better passenger facilities, and has been described by Customer Services Director Bethan Jelfs as “a fantastic achievement”.
The improvements include:
- Refurbished ticket hall
- More accessible waiting rooms
- Refurbished customer toilets
- Improvements to car parking
- New cycle stands
- New CCTV system
- Relocation of the out-of-hours station access to make it more prominent and accessible
- A new dedicated public footpath
- New signage
What did the officials say?
At an event to mark the completion of the work, Customer Services Director for Arriva Trains Wales, Bethan Jelfs said:
“We know how important our stations are to the communities we serve and Colwyn Bay is a great example of that.
“The station is gateway for tourism to the area but is also so important for the people of the area having strong rail links.
“This investment is a fantastic achievement that will make Colwyn Bay Station a much more accessible and welcoming place for all our customers.
“We are really grateful for the Department for Transport for making the funding available and to our project team, our partners in Network Rail and our customers for their patience whilst this work has been going on.”
Bill Kelly, acting route managing director for Network Rail in Wales and Borders, said:
“We have worked closely with our partners Arriva Trains Wales during the upgrade of Colwyn Bay station, where passengers now benefit from upgraded facilities, better accessibility and improved parking and cycle provisions.
“The work is part of our plan to improve a number of stations across North Wales including Bangor, Rhyl and Llandudno Junction. We've also invested £50m in North Wales as part of the Railway Upgrade Plan, improving reliability and installing state-of-the-art signalling between Colwyn Bay and Shotton.”
Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:
“Today's investment is part of a package of UK Government measures to modernise North Wales' rail infrastructure to increase connectivity and accessibility, improve customer satisfaction and boost tourism across the area.
“We are delivering on a £50m project to renovate the signalling system on the North Wales Coast Main Line from Shotton to Colwyn Bay, ensuring the system is capable of meeting future passenger demand and provides higher standards of service.”
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