Better Transport

Friends of Walkden Station

Neil Stapleton was fed up. Fed up with boarding the train at an unloved, run-down station, and fed up with seeing how that station put many people off using the train altogether.

"I'm a great believer in the ecological and social benefits of public transport," Neil says. "It grieved me to see our local station - with such potential to be a brilliant asset to the community - in a sorry state of neglect. It made me want to 'do something' to improve the station and tempt more people to use it."

So that's exactly what he did. Along with a group of local volunteers, Neil formed Friends of Walkden Station and set about giving the station, which is near Manchester, the TLC it so badly needed.

Adopt your station

The group's first act was to 'adopt' Walkden station. The train operator Northern Rail, the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE) and local councillors were involved with the group from the start, and Neil says that the adoption went through: "In a matter of weeks and with an absolute minimum of red tape."

Give your station a facelift

After a safety briefing from Northern Rail, Friends of Walkden Station set to work installing flower beds and shiny steel planters at the station (see photos, above), cleaning walls, sweeping floors and collecting litter. They also persuaded Northern Rail to install litter bins and Network Rail to fit anti-pigeon netting and repaint the platform canopy.

See 'before and after' photos of the station

Don't underestimate flower power

Neil and his group have ambitions to improve disabled access to the station, and are also campaigning for a longer platform and Sunday services. "It was always clear to us that we needed a plan to tackle the more substantive issues as well as the aesthetic ones," Neil says, "Or we would simply not be credible to the station's users."

But the aesthetic improvements had an unforeseen impact. "Those flower beds and planters probably advertised our existence more effectively than all of our meetings, posters, web pages and press articles. Moreover, they demonstrated to Northern Rail and GMPTE - the people with the greatest ability to improve services at the station - that we were well-meaning, well-organised, and prepared to put our own time and money into the station. In other words, it dispelled any suspicion that we were just a bunch of complainers."

Fundraising requires careful attention

"So far we've not found it too difficult to raise money for our projects," Neil says. "I put this down to a supportive local council and the care we take to submit accurately-costed applications with clearly identified, tangible benefits." Funding has come from Salford City Council, Northern Rail and the Association of Community Rail Partnerships.

"My advice is to make your first application to a new funding body relatively modest (say, no more than a couple of hundred pounds). After the project, make sure you give your sponsors plenty of feedback about how their money was spent and what benefits were achieved - this will help earn trust and credibility for when you have larger projects to fund in future."

Big changes take time

"We believe we are making progress toward platform lengthening and Sunday services," Neil says. The group has raised these issues in the press and got the local MP and several councillors on board. The station was even visited by the then Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly and her shadow Theresa Villiers. But Neil has a word of warning: "Infrastructure changes take a long, long time. You very rarely see overnight results and must be prepared to play the long game, nudging projects patiently - but tenaciously - along."

Contact Friends of Walkden Station

Tel: 07522 550119
Send an email

Read our guide to improving your local station