St Albans station set to look bloomin’ lovely this spring

Passengers travelling through St Albans City train station can look forward to seeing a burst of colour in the spring after a local charity planted more than 200 flower bulbs.

Marc Asamoah, Thameslink Station Manager at St Albans City, said: “It was great to involve the local community in this gardening activity, which will give us all something to look forward to in spring. The floral display will improve the area outside of the station and help to attract wildlife.”

Around 13 volunteers from The Daylight Club, a social club for adults with physical and other disabilities, planted the bulbs on a sunny November afternoon to help improve the look and feel of the station.

Active Community Disability Officer for The Daylight Club, Salpi Gulbekian, added: “The bulb planting was an amazing experience for our group as it gave them the opportunity to participate in a community event and to contribute in a positive way

The plants will enhance an otherwise unused area of grass in front of the station and encourage biodiversity. Bulb-planting and gardening projects continue to take place across the network and follow the operator’s successful station improvement programme, in which more than 90 landscaping projects were caried out, in addition to rewilding and water-saving initiatives and the addition of bee gardens.

Green-fingered volunteers from The Daylight Club were supported by members from the Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Community Rail Partnership (CRP), as well as the Deputy Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, Akhtar Zaman, and local ward councillor, Jacqui Taylor, who both got stuck into the gardening.

Andy Buckley, from Beds & Herts CRP, said: “It was great to be able to arrange this bulb planting session with members of The Daylight Club. Well over 200 bulbs were planted and we look forward to seeing the results in spring next year. We hope that this will bring a splash of colour to an otherwise plain grass area.

“This is the first of a number of activities we have planned with the group at the station – our next activity is a proposed litter pick around the station grounds – and we look forward to working with The Daylight Club members in the future.”

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