Crowthorne Station - facilities, improvements, car parking, incidents and developments

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From GetBracknell:

Improved security, a self-service ticket machine and extra carriages on rush hour trains have brought the smiles back to commuters^ faces at Crowthorne railway station.

The improvements, which also include security lights, CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit TeleVision), information displays and cycle racks, were part of the community^s wishlist championed by parish councillor Tina McKenzie-Boyle.

Cllr McKenzie-Boyle said: ^As a commuter I found the customer experience was not getting people to work with a smile on their face. People came to me because they know I am a councillor ^ I wanted to improve the wellbeing of all station users.^

Cllr McKenzie-Boyle, who works in Reading and uses the station twice a day, began working with First Great Western to improve the Duke^s Ride station in June 2010.

The final item on the list, a self-service ticket machine, was put in place last month.

Cllr McKenzie-Boyle said: ^My wish list from two years ago has all been actioned. We needed security, information and comfort. It has gone from being pitch black at night to having the stairs lit.^

She held regular meetings with Mal Thurman, First Great Western station manager for North Downs, and in July he promised an extra carriage would be added to prime time trains by the end of the summer, bringing them from two to three.

Cllr McKenzie-Boyle said: ^This has already been actioned and now there is little squash ^ it used to be a bit of a pain to get a seat in the morning.^

Mr Thurman said: ^I am delighted at the work that has been carried out. We now have a help point, CCTV, display screens, a public address system, as well as a ticket vending machine, which all go to improve the station environment for passengers.

^We have also been working with the parish council to establish a Station Adoption Scheme, whereby members of the community can come along and help us look after the garden and surrounding area.^

Mr Thurman suggested the community adopt scrubland around the station to create a traditional railway station garden and offered First Great Western^s financial backing for the makeover.

Cllr McKenzie-Boyle suggested four concrete panels by platform one, for schools in Crowthorne to adopt and paint a mural of their view of the village or their school.

First Great Western has agreed to pay for plaques for each of the murals and the parish council will arrange this with the community^s schools.

Cllr McKenzie-Boyle said: ^It is a very community spirited idea to me and the next step is that we take pride and make it more of a community area.^

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Wokingham Times:

Heavy rainfall flooded the car park at Crowthorne train station.

[Image from here is not available to guests]

These pictures, taken at around midday yesterday, show the car park completely submerged.

The Loddon Bridge Park and Ride in Winnersh remains closed today due to flooding.

The Met Office has forecast showers later this evening but a dry and sunny day tomorrow.

A case of 'park and wade', perhaps? 

[ellendune]

Didn't notice anything when I went through today, but then the paper speaks of 'yesterday'.  Should the heading be changed to 'Car park at Crowthorne Station flooded - 31 January 2013'

[johoare]

Either it's a very little used car park or that water is VERY deep so we can't see the cars  

[Chris from Nailsea]

Should the heading be changed to 'Car park at Crowthorne Station flooded - 31 January 2013'

Yes, it should: my mistake, which I've now corrected. 

Are you an expert on flooded station car parks, by any chance, Jo? 

[johoare]

Nope.. I just expect a station car park to be full fairly early on.. Maybe that is just Maidenhead though  I can't see any cars in that picture...

[Ollie]

Crowthorne is a small car park. When I went to try park up on Thursday it was cordoned off (believe flooding started on Wednesday). Although a couple people had cars parked up anyway.

[BBM]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg9v05d205o

A Victorian railway station building is set to benefit from a £600,000 restoration project.

Built in 1859, Crowthorne station in Berkshire serves hundreds of thousands of passengers annually on the Great Western Railway North Downs Line.

The money will fund repairs to the structure, the surrounding forecourt, and create a new commercial space.

Chief executive of the building's owner, The Arch Company, Craig McWilliam, said the investment would "secure its long-term future".

"This project will bring a long-vacant building back into productive use, creating space for local businesses to thrive while preserving an important part of the area's railway heritage," he added.

The station was founded as Wellington College for Crowthorne station in 1861 with funding from the college. It was renamed Crowthorne in 1928.

It originally had accommodation upstairs for a station master and his family.

The building was reroofed following closure of the booking office and conversion for commercial letting but has been unoccupied for the last eight years during which Crowthorne Parish Council said it had deteriorated both internally and externally.

The refurbished building is expected to provide accommodation for two or three businesses.

The Arch Company said it was part of its wider investment of more than £100m across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) which was bringing hundreds of underused spaces and derelict arches back into productive use.