| Network Rail gets go-ahead to make city railway station more accessible Posted by ChrisB at 19:44, 25th January 2026 |     |
From Worcester News, via MSN
UPGRADES at a city railway station will provide step-free access to all platforms.
Network Rail has been given the go-ahead to carry out work at Worcester’s historic Shrub Hill Station.
The installation of new lifts and steps from both platforms will allow a luggage bridge to be used by passengers.
ACCESS: Lifts will be installed so passengers can use the luggage bridge at Shrub Hill station (Image: Daniel Kelly/NQ)
The original bridge was removed from the station in 2020 having fallen into disrepair and replaced with a modern replica.
Now the rollout of Network Rail’s Access for All programme means it can be used to improve accessibility at Shrub Hill.
Access for All was launched in 2006 and has seen more than £500 million invested in stations across the country.
Network Rail said: “The aim of this programme is to provide a step-free route from a single drop-off point at the front of the station to all platforms.”
Worcester City Council, granting planning permission for the work, said the proposals would result in a low level of harm to the station, which is a Grade II listed building, and this was “outweighed by the public benefits of the proposal, which is to make the station fully accessible”.
Other railway station upgrades are set to be scrapped as cash-strapped Worcestershire County Council looks to reduce its spending and borrowing.
A £12m scheme to upgrade Redditch Railway Station is being replaced by a £1m project to carry out highways and station access work around the station.
The council is cutting a £1m scheme to improve accessibility at stations including Droitwich, Bromsgrove, Pershore and Alvechurch.
And it will no longer be providing £1.484m in match-funding for work relating to “Shrub Hill frontage” after a bid for Levelling Up money proved unsuccessful.
Network Rail has been given the go-ahead to carry out work at Worcester’s historic Shrub Hill Station.
The installation of new lifts and steps from both platforms will allow a luggage bridge to be used by passengers.
ACCESS: Lifts will be installed so passengers can use the luggage bridge at Shrub Hill station (Image: Daniel Kelly/NQ)
The original bridge was removed from the station in 2020 having fallen into disrepair and replaced with a modern replica.
Now the rollout of Network Rail’s Access for All programme means it can be used to improve accessibility at Shrub Hill.
Access for All was launched in 2006 and has seen more than £500 million invested in stations across the country.
Network Rail said: “The aim of this programme is to provide a step-free route from a single drop-off point at the front of the station to all platforms.”
Worcester City Council, granting planning permission for the work, said the proposals would result in a low level of harm to the station, which is a Grade II listed building, and this was “outweighed by the public benefits of the proposal, which is to make the station fully accessible”.
Other railway station upgrades are set to be scrapped as cash-strapped Worcestershire County Council looks to reduce its spending and borrowing.
A £12m scheme to upgrade Redditch Railway Station is being replaced by a £1m project to carry out highways and station access work around the station.
The council is cutting a £1m scheme to improve accessibility at stations including Droitwich, Bromsgrove, Pershore and Alvechurch.
And it will no longer be providing £1.484m in match-funding for work relating to “Shrub Hill frontage” after a bid for Levelling Up money proved unsuccessful.
