Network Rail is asking the UK public for its opinion on the future of the country’s 2,000 train stations, and is offering respondents the chance to win a year’s free season ticket.
The company, which owns and operates the UK’s rail infrastructure, launched its “Action Stations” online survey earlier today (November 12) to coincide with the news that it is to spend £3.25 billion on station upgrades over the next five years.
Network Rail hopes to gauge public opinion as it implements its improvement plan and has outlined a ten-point list of goals for each of its stations, including better links to other forms of transport and the encouragement of urban development.
The £3.25 billion will be spread across more than 2,000 UK train stations, the vast majority of which are rented out to train operators such as Southern and First Capital Connect.
Network Rail said money ranging from tens of thousands to tens of millions of pounds would go into improving, among other things, passenger information systems, platforms and waiting rooms, and ticket halls.
Birmingham New Street, Blackfriars, Edinburgh Waverley, King's Cross and London Bridge have been earmarked for investments in excess of £100 million, while Leicester, Maidstone East, Manchester Victoria, Nottingham and Oxford are among those stations to receive £10-20 million.
Professional services firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been called on to run the nationwide survey which will last up to three months and consist of online and telephone questionnaires and focus groups.
The Action Stations survey, the first of Network Rail’s online campaigns, closes on December 31 with PwC choosing the winner of the year’s free season ticket on January 6, 2010.
To enter the survey and for more information visit networkrail.co.uk/actionstations.
Report by Andrew Gough
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