DfT announces next tranche of Access for All funding

On 17th September 2018, Nusrat Ghani MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, wrote to all MPs outlining the latest allocation of funds under the Access for All programme.  This sets aside £300m for access improvements to railway stations as part of the government's Inclusive Transport Strategy, launched on 25th July.  The funding covers Network Rail's 'Control Period 6' (CP6): the five years from 1st April 2019 to 31st March 2024.  Bids for funds must be made by 'Local Delivery Groups' (LDGs), which usually means the local train operator and Network Rail.  The deadline for bids is 16th November 2018, with the results announced in April 2019.
Market Harborough has already had an allocation of Access for All funds for the planned footbridge with lifts; this is due to be built with the new platforms on the straightened line in 2019.  However, we seek further enhancements to the station's accessibility, in the form of:

• A lift between the booking office and the platforms
• Toilets on the new southbound platform.

Neither of these are included in current plans, though the DfT and Network Rail are reviewing the costs and benefits.
We in Harborough Rail Users have been liaising with Harborough MP Neil O'Brien about all this and he has written to East Midlands Trains seeking a meeting.  This is a first step towards getting a bid submitted for the additional enhancements to bring our increasingly busy station up to fully accessible modern standards. If recent growth trends continue, especially with all the new housing being built in the area, it will not be long before Market Harborough station sees over a million passenger journeys a year!  We need a station that fully matches that level of business!
Further information is on the DfT website at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/access-for-all-programme
and Network Rail https://www.networkrail.co.uk/communities/passengers/station-improvements/access-for-all/