Northern's Better Stations are gathering pace in Liverpool and Cheshire

Sharon Keith, Regional Director at Northern, said: “We had a good response to the trial stations and I’m delighted to be able to say that the modernisation of our stations is now fully underway.

“This will be a three-year process which will see the majority of our stations given a new lease of life – with improved accessibility and facilities to compliment the other work we are doing to modernise the Northern network.”

During August work will start at the first stations in Cheshire and Liverpool City Region with a combination of facilities, such as waiting shelters, improved waiting rooms, customer information, ticket machines, and CCTV being installed.

Sharon added: “These are early days for the Better Stations project, but during the coming weeks and months our customers will begin to see changes right across the network.

“Our new facilities, designed specifically for Northern, will create a more modern and welcoming feel as we begin the process of developing Northern as a network fit for the 21^st Century.

“I’d like to thank everyone who got involved with the initial trial, in May and June, and encourage as many people as possible to get out onto the network to see our modernisation programme in action.”

Cllr Liam Robinson, Chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Transport Committee which oversees the work of Merseytravel, said: “It’s important that our stations not only meet demand but also provide up to date facilities which improve our passengers’ experience.

“These improvements will go a long way to doing just that, underpinning our ambitious plans for improvements to public transport facilities across the Liverpool City Region and putting the customer first.”

Paul Cherpeau, of Liverpool and Sefton Chamber of Commerce, said: “Better Stations is a key initiative that will further improve the customer experience of train passengers travelling to and from Liverpool, enhancing the city's reputation as a credible business and tourism destination.

“We welcome the ongoing programme of technological investment that Better Stations will provide and the prospect of an increasingly modern, professional and attractive experience for customers to enjoy.”

Better Stations is a key part of Northern’s commitment to modernising the Northern network. Northern has already started to roll out our refurbished trains and the remainder of the fleet will go through this process during the next 18 months. Northern is also committed to bringing 98 new, purpose built, trains to the network by 2020, as well as removing all Pacers within the same timescale.