Railway station gets heritage-inspired overhaul

A railway station has been overhauled to acknowledge its heritage in an £835,000 refit.

The waiting room and ticket office at Castle Cary Station in Somerset has been refitted in a classic style, its original entrance has reopened and a new ramp for wheelchair-users has been installed.

More seating has been put in on the platform, along with a digital departure board and larger toilet and baby-changing facilities.

The project was funded by the government, which provided £560,000, together with £275,000 from the Railway Heritage Trust, which aims to maintain and preserve the historic features of British railways.

Castle Cary is one of Somerset's busiest railway stations and, as the main stop for Glastonbury Festival, serves more than 350,000 passengers each year.

The station has benefitted from investment in recent years - a new car park opened in March 2024 and the 567 bus route recently launched on a six-month trial basis to connect the station to Glastonbury and Street.

Sir Andrew Haines, chair of the Department for Transport Operator Limited, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the revamp was a good example of "how we can provide meaningful benefits to the public while remaining true to the station's iconic heritage".

"I hope Castle Cary's passengers are pleased with the improvements and enjoy their journeys to and from this unique station," he said.

The ramp will allow wheelchair-users to access the ticket office and platform one of the station, but staff assistance will still be needed to reach platform two via the track-level barrow crossing.

Tim Hedley Jones, director of the Railway Heritage Trust, told the BBC the changes were intended to give passengers "a positive experience of their time at the station".

"I'm particularly pleased to see the reproduction of the original Great Western Railway benches so that people can appreciate the quality of furniture that was provided in stations, and also the colours that were used," he said.

"This is about marketing the modern railway. Great Western Railway has had a lot of investment in new trains, and it's important to reflect that with investment in stations.

"Historic stations have character," he added. "This project, whilst also bringing back the old heritage at the station, removed the clutter and made it a much more positive experience for passengers in a modern context."

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