Love your station: we have a winner!
It’s somehow already been six weeks since we celebrated the power of sustainable transport with Better Transport Week! For each day of our week-long celebration, we championed a different mode of transport, kicking things off on Monday with Rail Day…
In partnership with the Community Rail Network, we launched our ‘Love Your Station’ competition, asking rail passengers to tell us why they loved their railway stations. We had some brilliant entries, with thoughtful comments, photos and even a few poems, which leads me onto our winner.
Philip’s poem about Ely Station was selected as our competition winner by our judges. His poem penned to Ely captures why he finds the station to be so special, with kind staff, bike sheds, choice of cafes and an even bigger choice of destinations, Philip picked up on Ely’s amazing capacity with four rail operators serving the station.
As the nation’s biggest freight corridor, there are calls for the station’s capacity to be boosted even further by the Ely area capacity enhancement (EACE) programme. The proposal aims to upgrade the old Victorian rail system, and increase the number of trains running through Ely from around six trains an hour to ten. An additional 277,000 rail passengers and six extra freight trains would be able to travel through Ely, replacing 98,000 lorry journeys that currently transport freight.
The winning poem:
The staff at Ely are the best
At helping us when there’s a test.
They’re calm and collected every day
So we get to our destination with no delay.
The station is always tidy and clean
And welcoming wherever we’ve been.
The coffee’s great, and so’s the tea
There’s even a shop on platform three.
We are spoilt with so many selections
As there are lines in five directions,
Four train companies, we are so cool,
For London, Birmingham or Liverpool.
Visitors, we welcome you
To markets, riverside and cathedral too.
Of course there’s racks to store your bike
So, Ely Station, what’s not to like?
-Philip, Ely station
It was a difficult choice for our judges, we have so many passionate responses showing how valued volunteer station adoption groups are. Over 1,200 railway stations across Britain are supported by volunteer-run station adoption groups who all work hard to make stations inclusive, vibrant and welcoming places.
John from Ryton wrote in about the amazing affect the Friends of Blaydon Station have had on his local railway station, in particular commissioning local artist Sarah Jarman to paint some impressive murals:
“Blaydon used to be an important station on the Newcastle – Carlisle Railway. In the 1960s, most of the town centre was demolished to make way for a new road network leaving the station isolated and neglected. The rail services were diminished, but due to the work of Friends of Blaydon Station, who promote the services online and have commissioned the work of a local artist Sarah Jarman, to celebrate the heritage of the station and to enhance the sense of community.”
“Blaydon used to be a railway town, with a goods yard and large engine shed. The Friends Group has ambitions to see the station become central to everyday life in Blaydon once again.”
-John, Ryton
Kerry-Ann commented on the helpfulness of Pluckley’s Station Master Brian:
“The station is a lifeline to the facilities I need. Due to my regular use, I have gotten to know our lovely Station Master Brian who is super helpful and well known among the locals. If he doesn’t know the answer to something train related, he will go out of his way to find out and come back to you. He makes a great effort to make the station welcoming and these efforts resulted in our little station winning the South Eastern in Bloom competition a few years ago. Despite the pandemic restricting users, he ensured those that came had a warming festive welcome. He will be retiring at the end of this month so writing this felt very timely.”
We then had a childhood dream come true for Thresi from Birmingham:
“The thing that fascinates me the most about Locomotives is the fact that it is one of the great symbols of British history. They were described as great iron beasts which breathe fire and run with a majestic prowess. These scenarios in my childhood left a huge impression on me and constantly made me wonder, will I ever be able to encounter any steam within a station that still functions in this modern era?
“While travelling to Birmingham, I encountered a station that was different to the rest. It was the great and beautiful Birmingham Moor Street railway station. It was like stepping back into the past. On this same day I was very blessed to witness the mighty Shakespeare Express, which is an alluring steam locomotive. This was the day that one of my childhood dream was fulfilled!
“After roaming around the station like a toddler in awe, I reached a board which showed a brief history of the station, about it being built in 1909 and there are parts that haven’t changed much architecturally in the last 100 years. As soon as I reached home I felt a comforting feeling remembering those open barred ceiling of my dearest station, Birmingham Moor Street railway.”
It wasn’t just written evidence we got our how important railway stations are, we also received the fabulous photo at the top of this blog from artist Sam in Weston-Super-Mare, whose community initiative, ‘Grow Feral’ is developing a new community garden, Open Returns Garden, on platform 2 of Weston-Super-Mare station.
Congratulations to Philip and thank you to everyone who entered!
