SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) is celebrating today after one of its stations and one of its community rail partners won at the 2023 National Rail Awards.
The National Rail Awards, held in London on Thursday 14 September, celebrate achievements across the railway industry. SWR was delighted to see Staines station, which opened 175 years ago last month, pick up the title of ‘Medium Station of the Year’.
The category saw stations judged on their access, information, ticketing, customer service, disabled access, presentation and special features, such as their links to local communities and decoration.
Staines - a busy station at the junction for trains between London Waterloo, Reading and Windsor & Eton Riverside – was previously managed by Teresa Pearson, who in June was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for her services to the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II last September.
Hampshire Community Rail Partnership (CRP), which was nominated by SWR for the category of ‘Outstanding Contribution to Society’, incorporates four CRPs covering 50 stations and has adopted 28 stations on the SWR network.
Since its founding, it has grown from two part-time rail officers to three part-time directors, around 100 volunteers and more than 400 steering group and stakeholder members. Included among its many achievements celebrated by the award are the 10 formerly redundant station buildings it has turned into spaces for the local community.
Swaythling station, near Southampton, has seen its old station building turned into a free shop, providing food to those who need it, that otherwise would have been thrown away. Shawford station, near Winchester, has seen its old station building turned into a popular local café, Platform 1.
The CRP also delivers the ‘Travel With Confidence’ programme to help and inspire more people to travel by train, including those with non-visible disabilities such as autism, anxiety and phobias. In May, Hampshire CRP and partner Winchester Go LD celebrated the milestone of training 100 adults with learning disabilities to travel by rail.
Claire Mann, South Western Railway’s Managing Director, said:
“We are so proud of our colleagues and partners who have been recognised by the railway industry at the 2023 National Rail Awards. The award for Staines is a testament to the hard work that our station colleagues put in every day to give our customers the best journeys possible.
“We are delighted too for Hampshire Community Rail Partnership, who thoroughly deserve their award following the years of dedication to the many local communities they work with, and the fantastic work they have done to give old station buildings a new lease of life and inspire more people to travel on our network.”
Nick Farthing, Chair of Hampshire Community Rail Partnership said:
“We are delighted to have been recognised along with South Western Railway for all that we do and we look forward to continuing our work across our network of stations.”
