Harborough rail users
Improving the quality of Market Harborough's rail service
Harborough Rail Users held their Annual General Meeting on Thursday 24th November 2022, online on Zoom. Steve Jones was re-elected as Chair, and the other officers and Committee were elected for the forthcoming year. The priorities for the group were confirmed; these are:
Harborough Rail Users are holding their 2022 Annual General Meeting on Thursday 24th November 2022, starting at 7:00pm, as an online meeting on Zoom.
As well as electing officers for the group for the forthcoming year, the meeting will consider relevant topics including reviewing the past year. Campaign priorities for the forthcoming year will also be considered. Among these are the continuing disruption to train services, the remaining improvements we would like to see at the station, and the progress with electrification of the line. Anyone who cares about Market Harborough's station and rail service and would like to attend the online AGM is invited to contact Harborough Rail Users via our Get in Touch facility. As a postscript to the item below (10th October 2022), two additional planting boxes in the style of traditional railway wagons have been installed at Market Harborough station. Standing on their own length of ‘track’, they have been placed on the south side of the car park steps, to complement the two luggage trolleys on the other side. As with the restored trolleys, they were built by a local retired engineer, using wood generously donated by Harborough firm Glenmere Timber. Station wagons: the two additional planting boxes for Market Harborough in Bloom, located by the car park steps onto the southbound platform. Photo: Steve Jones
Market Harborough in Bloom install restored luggage trolleys at station as part of planting scheme10/10/2022
East Midlands Railway (EMR) operate a Station Adoption scheme, whereby local individuals and community groups can ‘adopt’ their local station. The stated aim is ‘to create station environments that our customers and East Midlands Railway can be proud of’. Though largely aimed at the small unstaffed rural stations, it can apply to any station on the EMR network. Market Harborough station has been adopted by Market Harborough in Bloom, who maintain the award-winning decorative planting throughout the town centre from their base in Welland Park. Back in 2021, Market Harborough in Bloom, with the generous help of local people and businesses, restored the two old platform trolleys that used to support planting boxes on the platform at the old station. These had become totally derelict, having been pushed into the long grass while the platforms were rebuilt. See here for more on this. However, on 10th October 2022, they were installed at the station, to the right of the steps on the approach from the main car park and have been planted up with flowers. Some additional boxes in the style of traditional railway wagons have also been made and these will be placed on the other side of the steps. The intention is that these, and other planting around the station, will give our station a bit of a ‘lift’ by softening its rather functional appearance at platform level. Blooming marvellous: The two restored platform trolleys being installed at the station on 10th October by Market Harborough in Bloom volunteers. Photos: Steve Jones
The long-awaited new waiting room and toilets on Platform 1 at Market Harborough finally opened, without ceremony, on Friday 22nd July. There have been various delays in the construction process, but the new building looks very smart and adds a splash of colour to our rather monochrome station. Along with the new building are modifications to the top end of the ramp from the booking office to the platform, to bring it into compliance with the relevant regulations. The area left by the demolition of the previous 1970s building has also been tidied up, with a degree of landscaping. We wonder, however, just how much weather protection will really be provided by the small canopy erected over the entrance to the Victorian ramp. Open at last: the new building on Platform 1 accommodating toilets and waiting room. It is much to be welcomed, being greatly superior both to the previous temporary arrangements and to the now demolished 1970s building it replaces. The image below shows the interior of the new waiting room. All photos: Steve Jones Ramp revamped: the modified entrance to the ramp linking Platform 1 with the booking office. We wait and see just how much weather protection is actually provided by the rather stark bit of canopy over the entrance to the Victorian structure behind it! We now await the plans for the forecourt once the temporary toilet cabin has been removed. There is a severe need for more short-stay car parking in this admittedly rather limited space. Waiting to go: the temporary toilet cabin in the station forecourt at Market Harborough has now been superseded by the new permanent structure on Platform 1. Its removal will restore some space to the forecourt and we await plans for this.
Photo: Steve Jones |
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