I’m very disappointed at the Department for Transport’s announcement today that the Access for All project at Alfreton Train Station will now be delayed until at least 2019.
Works to provide step-free access to both platforms had been due to start at Alfreton Station earlier this year, but the improvements were postponed whilst all the schemes under the Access for All programme were reviewed. Following this review by Network Rail and the Department for Transport, the Minister has confirmed that the funding and the project have been deferred until after 2019.
I am devastated by this further delay on these long-planned and desperately awaited improvements at Alfreton Station.
Many of my constituents regularly contact me about the current awful situation at Alfreton. Disabled or elderly travellers and cyclists are only able to access the northbound platform, which means that disabled passengers using the station have to go to Nottingham or Chesterfield first, due to the lack of suitable disabled access. This causes many people inexcusable delays and inconvenience, and excludes them from using their local station.
The latest delay is particularly intolerable as the Government has allocated billions of pounds for large new infrastructure projects, whilst still denying the entitled access for all to the transport services we currently have.
I will continue to make the case for these vital improvements and I will keep pushing the Government to start the works as soon as possible. I would also urge my constituents who are affected by the continual delays of this project to get in touch with me so that I can highlight to the Minister the personal struggles, delays and problems the current inaccessibility causes.
