Rail volunteers team up to give Devon railway station a spring clean

In Devon, Bere Alston station’s spring clean saw a collaborative effort for a much-needed tidy up of the disused platform and old signal box

The team of volunteers for the clean up of the station were made up of Network Rail, Great Western Railway and Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership staff and students from Plymouth University who supported the cleanup project.

The local Scout group will use the platform in order to plant and grow flowers which will make the station look more colourful and welcoming for customers and will also give them a great opportunity to develop their gardening skills whilst learning about biodiversity.

The old signal box is set to be used as a potting shed and as the volunteer team discovered it makes a fantastic place to shelter from the rain.

Braving the spring showers, the volunteers worked hard to smarten up the platform area and signal box which closed back in 1970 and had been repurposed as a workspace by a rail maintenance team up until the 1990s.

The old signal box at Bere Alston // Credit: Network Rail

Previous renovations of the signal box by The Community Rail Partnership have seen the painting of the exterior and the removal of old materials. The volunteer team also removed unused furniture from the signal box alongside overgrown vegetation from the platform which will make the site safe for the Scout group to begin planting soon.

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Máedóc Ellis, Network Rail customer support manager (community rail), said:

“It was great to see representatives from the different organisations work together to make sure the unused areas of Bere Alston station were neatened up and ready for the arrival of the Scout group.

“Supporting community projects means that we can work alongside local residents to improve public spaces, creating a welcoming environment for our passengers.

“I can’t wait to see how the Scouts get on with their gardening projects and hope to continue supporting their endeavours.”

Rebecca Catterall from Devon and Cornwall Rail Partnership, who helped coordinate the volunteers, said:

“It was a great day, albeit a wet one, but everyone pulled together and worked incredibly hard. I am sure users of Bere Alston station will notice a difference.”