Greater Anglia has transformed a car park at Attleborough station, almost tripling its capacity.
Working with Norfolk County Council, which contributed £400,000 to the £900,000 project, Greater Anglia has created 81 spaces – this is up from 30 in the old car park, and includes five accessible parking spaces.
In addition, there is designated parking for five motorcycles and future provision for electric car charging, as well as LED lighting and CCTV.
A self-service Amazon locker is also on the way, so that people can collect their parcels. At the edge of the new car park, areas have been set aside for wildflower planting which will be managed by the station’s team of volunteer adopters.
The new car park opened on 29 September and was officially opened by the Mayor of Attleborough, Cllr Philip Leslie, joined by representatives of Greater Anglia and TPSS, the contractor who carried out the work.
Simone Bailey, Greater Anglia’s asset management director, said: “I’d like to thank Attleborough Town Council, station users and all the partners involved in this project for their support and patience during this upgrade.”
“As Attleborough continues to grow, we’re pleased that we have been able to extend the car park so that we have the capacity to encourage more sustainable journeys, helping to reduce the pollution and congestion caused by cars.”
The work was phased to keep as many parking spaces as possible available for key workers and people making essential journeys by train during the pandemic
The much larger car park was achieved by removing two dilapidated buildings, as well as some tree stumps and vegetation creating a new wall boundary.
Greater Anglia also hopes to attract a new tenant for the restored station house. The building was previously used as a veterinary practice but fell into disrepair and was eventually deemed unsafe because of roof leaks that threatened to bring down the ceilings and, in 2013, had to be closed.
Greater Anglia began renovating the building in 2018, with the help of a £70,000 grant from the Railway Heritage Trust. The train operator also invested £300,000 on the scheme.
The work saw the interior of the building stripped back, UPVC windows replaced with timber sash windows, new doors fitted, redecoration in the building’s original heritage colours and extensive repairs to the roofs to restore the building to its former glory.
Prior to this, in 2016, both platforms were extensively renovated.
