Thameslink has announced that it has finished the £1.5m extension of Elstree & Borehamwood station right on its schedule.
Contractors HA Marks has left site having successfully extended the station.
All that remains is for Costa Coffee to fit out the side extension.
The scheme began in November and has doubled the size of the concourse.
The ticket office has been rebuilt so that queuing passengers do not block others passing through.
There are also bigger male and female toilets and an accessible toilet for the first time.
There are now three ticket machines inside the new concourse and another two outside.
Nisa convenience store has stayed open throughout and is now 50% larger.
What did the officials say?
Thameslink station manager Marc Asamoah said:
“This has been a fabulously well-run project which has given the passengers of Elstree & Borehamwood the station they have always deserved. We're delighted with the end result.”
Contracts Manager at HA Marks, Innocent Obiekwe has had up to 28 people working on the site at any one time. He has hit every milestone in the often-difficult project.
“One of the greatest challenges was the condition of the ground we were digging up. This used to be a railway sidings and there were all sorts of things buried there, such as abandoned railway sleepers, concrete structures and track.
“We also had to keep the station operating while we did all this work as well as maintain access to Nisa.”
Karl White, joint manager at Nisa, (pictured below serving a customer), says the convenience store has doubled in size and reopened after a short refit on 23 April.
“The station is a lot better, there's much more room. People like it.”
Innocent is particularly going to miss the project because the station staff have been so welcoming. They even gave them a card and some chocolates as the team prepared to leave. Innocent said:
“They have been fantastic — very, very supportive and cooperative. They were part of the team!”
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If only other train operators such as Greater Anglia would of done that. By replacing railway station buildings and redeveloping railway stations to make it much more easier and accessible for the disabled passengers to use the station. And to get the train they need to commute into the capital. If they were to upgrade stations that would become step-free and replace the old footbridge with a new one with lifts or ramps at stations on its network. Just makes life so much easier.
The new improved Elstree and Borehamwood station does look lot better and is much bigger and cleaner than it was before. Will GTR improve more stations such as stations not just in stations on the Thameslink route but also stations on the Great Northern and Southern routes. And to upgrade stations to become step-free accessible.