Kettering station won The Greater Anglia Award for Best Overall Entry and Wellingborough station was highly commended in The London Underground Operational Enhancement Award category at the National Railway Heritage Awards 2022.
HRH The Duke of Gloucester presented the National Railway Heritage Awards at a ceremony on Tuesday 6 December, which saw 51 entries from across the rail industry judged across 12 categories.
The Greater Anglia Award for Best Overall Entry in this year’s competition went to Network Rail for the careful restoration and modification of the platform canopies at Kettering station to ensure their safe integration following the introduction of electrification through the station.
At Wellingborough, substantial work was done on the Grade II listed iron platform canopies to prepare for electrification, as well as renovations to the goods shed to provide a walkway for passengers on Platform 1. These upgrades have led to the station being highly commended in The London Underground Operational Enhancement award category.
Network Rail worked closely with the Railway Heritage Trust on the £2.5m scheme to restore the platform canopies at both Northamptonshire stations, which included the restoration of lost historical detail of the original features such as the finials, and filigree gable ends and repairs to columns and roofs.
The improvements are part of the Midland Main Line upgrade, the biggest since the route was built over 150 years ago. The upgrade has already delivered more seats as well as faster and more reliable journeys for passengers travelling between Kettering and London. As key stations on the route, substantial changes have been made including extended platforms at both stations as well as improved station lighting, new waiting shelters, CCTV and public announcement systems.
Colin Ramshall, Senior Portfolio Manager for Network Rail’s East Midlands Route, said: “This is fantastic news for both of these stations on the Midland Main Line and it is great for our teams to get recognition for what they have achieved.
“The package of improvements at Kettering and Wellingborough included the restoration of the historic Victorian canopies which was delivered sympathetically to retain their original character. The scheme was well-received by passengers and the local community and these accolades from the National Railway Heritage awards really acknowledge this.”
Full list of winners
- The BAM Nuttall Partnership Award was made for the restoration work undertaken at Sleaford station by the Poacher Line Community Rail Partnership.
- The Great Western Railway Craft Skills Award, recognising the best use of traditional craft skills in the restoration of a building or structure, was made to Network Rail for the work undertaken involved in the roof renovation at Stirling station.
- The Urban Heritage Award, sponsored by the Arch Company, was made to Scotrail for work completed on the north corner building at Aberdeen station.
- Translink Structures Award for the best-restored structure, such as a viaduct or tunnel, was made to Greenways and Cycleroutes Ltd for the conversion of the disused railway tunnel at Tidenham.
- The London Underground Operational Enhancement Award went to Transport for London for the sympathetic way in which step-free access was introduced to Sudbury Hill station.
- The Railway Heritage Trust Conservation Award for the best restored structure supported by funding from the Trust was won by Oxford Preservation Trust for the restoration of the Robert Stephenson-designed Rewley Road swing bridge in Oxford.
- Two awards in the Hendy & Pendle Trust Volunteers Award were made to the Talyllyn Railway Company for the recreation of the 1865 locomotive watering point at Tŷ Dŵr and to the Staffordshire Narrow Gauge Railway Ltd for the reconstruction of the former Waterhouses station signal box on the Amerton Railway at Stowe-by-Chartley in Staffordshire.
- The Network Rail Community Award, for the restoration of a railway building for community use, was made to Scottish Canals for the restoration of the Bowline viaduct.
- The National Highways Award for a restoration project on a closed line, which highlights the bringing back into sustainable use a building or structure no longer owned by the railway industry, and which is a new award for 2022, was made to Richard Brown for the restoration of the station at Wolferton.
- The SouthEastern Commercial Restoration Award, for projects bringing a railway building into a new commercial use, was made to Station South Community Interest Company for the restoration of the ex-Great Central station at Levenshulme South, near Manchester.
- There were two Chairman’s Special Awards. The first of these was made to Railway Paths Ltd for the work undertaken to ensure the survival and reuse of the superb Bennerley Viaduct between Derby and Nottingham. The second was to Network Rail on behalf of Scotland’s Railway for the transformation wrought at Glasgow Queen Street station.
- The Greater Anglia Award for the best overall entry in this year’s competition went to Network Rail for the careful restoration and modification of the platform canopies at Kettering station.
Photo credit: Network Rail
