National Express Group’s ‘one’ railway has commenced a major improvement scheme at Colchester station in partnership with Network Rail.

The work includes an investment by ‘one’ of £265k to completely refurbish the passenger subway at the station including new walls, flooring, stairs and lighting to transform the look of the subway area to provide a more pleasant environment for customers. New visual displays and CCTV improvements will also be a feature of the refurbishment project on completion.

‘one’ railway Station Manager Neil O’Hare said: “The subway has remained largely unaltered since the station was remodelled in the 1960s and has become increasingly difficult to maintain and properly clean giving a poor first impression of the station. The refurbishment project is designed to vastly improve the passenger subway and we look forward to unveiling a bright, more customer-friendly area in mid-March. Customers using the subway at present will be aware that access is necessarily restricted while the works are in progress, and we are grateful for their on-going patience and co-operation during this time.”

The contractors have approached the works in a creative way to achieve the desired results whilst keeping the subway open to customers.

In addition to the subway works, a £60k refurbishment of the customer toilets has recently been completed and other significant improvement work includes repairs to the stairs providing access to the car park, resurfacing of large areas of the platforms and new lighting throughout the station. This work complements the installation of new passenger lifts at the station last year.