Our thanks to Network Rail for station painting

Repainted walls and handrails at Walkden

Hats off to Network Rail who have repainted the stairway walls at Walkden as part of the roof repair project.

The walls of the stairs and booking hall had not been painted for many years and had become dirty and stained, while the red paint on the handrails was peeling and flaking away.

As our picture shows, the shiny new walls and handrails are a great improvement and give the station a much more inviting appearance. And from the way passengers rounded on kids suspected of recent graffiti damage to the station, the bright and clean walls are well appreciated by station users too !

As we understand the situation from previous discussions, repainting of the walls is the responsibility of the train operating company (Northern Rail). Network Rail’s decoration work is therefore even more appreciated as it was not their responsibility to tackle the job anyway.

The newly-retiled station roof at Walkden

The roof repairs, which started in August, are nearly complete and most of the scaffold will be removed this weekend, putting an end to some local kids’ dangerous use of it as a climbing frame.

Away from the public areas of the station Network Rail have installed a floor in a disused room which should provide lots of useful storage space for staff.

Pillar as good as new !

Freshly painted pillar on platform 1

Thanks to Northern and Network Rail for fixing the first pillar on the Manchester platform which has been over-flowing and corroding since the canopy was repainted last summer.

The freshly painted pillar looks great and we’re delighted the water damage to this part of the station’s fabric has been staunched.

Pillar repairs

Judging by the cones and “Men At Work” signs clustered around its base, the first pillar on the Manchester platform is being repaired by Network Rail.

The gutter that runs down the interior of this pillar has been blocked for some time, causing rainwater to overflow onto the platform and stream down the pillar’s exterior. It should have been unblocked (as the others were) when the canopy was repainted last summer, but for some reason this pillar was overlooked

FOWS have been reporting the problem in our monthly reports to Northern Rail for the last year, and Northern have been chasing the station owners Network Rail on our behalf.

We’re delighted the work is under way and would like to thank Northern and Network for taking action to preserve the fabric and appearance of the station.

The train now approaching Platform 1 …

For the first time in years Walkden station now has a sign identifying platforms 1 (“for Manchester”) and 2 (“for Wigan, Kirkby and Southport”).

The sign, which hangs from the canopy in front of the exit from the stairs, is has black lettering on a white background rather than Northern Rail’s usual white lettering on dark blue, suggesting it is perhaps “second hand” from one of the other stations along the line (like Swinton or Atherton) that has been upgraded.

Still, it’s nice to know which platform is officially which, and is sure to be a help for new or irregular passengers.

Roof repairs are underway

 Network Rail’s contractors have made a good start to the roof repairs at the station as these photographs show. Smart new tiles and flashing (made from plastic, so hopefully less vulnerable to thieving) are being laid on the main station roof, and old, rotten material is being removed from all sections.

Network Rail promised they would take care not to damage the flower beds and they have been as good as their word, for which FOWS are truly grateful.

Unfortunately the local know-nothings haven’t been so considerate and have been tearing up the foam wrapping that is supposed to make the scaffolding less dangerous to station users. British Transport Police are keeping a close eye on the problem and hopefully the culprits will soon tire of their game.

Roof repairs start

This evening Network Rail are starting extensive repair work on the station roof. This is a very welcome development as we have been worried about the water-damage being caused to the station for some time.

Roof cladding, sky-lights and flashing will be replaced along the full of the buildings from the street entrance right up the steps to the platform.

All the leaks in the booking hall and stairways will be fixed, and we have been assured the work will be sympathetic to the historic hammer-beam wooden structure.

A message for cyclists

We kindly ask you not to use the flower beds for locking up bikes as this can only lead to damage for the plants.

To be quite honest, tucked away around the corner where the kids hang out is probably not the most secure place to leave your bike anyway.

We are in touch with GMPTE about the provision of bike lockers on the station – if this is something you’d be interested in please post a comment here so we can demonstrate interest in the proposal.

Walkden gets a spring clean from Jet Clean

The algae-covered station sign before ...

Walkden’s historic entrance today received a deep spring clean thanks to local pressure-cleaning specialists Jet Clean.

Working for over 5 hours the team jet washed the bricks and stonework around the doorway, the floor of the porch, the station’s street signs, and the first three steps of the lower stairway.

... and after

The difference is dramatic – the original cream and pink colours of the ornamental bricks and sandstone are shining through and the floor of the porch looks brand new. The first three steps and the lower three grey sandstone blocks to the right of the entrance clearly show the extent of the improvement when compared to their neighbours.

The work was carried out with full regard to the Health and Safety regulations that surround any kind of work at a railway station, with a lookout posted on the pavement to ensure passers-by were not inconvenienced.

The porch floor is glistening clean for the first time in years

Tony Williams of Jet Clean said “I live locally and when the community asked for some help I wanted to do what I could”. FOWS are extremely grateful to Jet Clean for performing this work free of charge.

FOWS also wish to thank Bill Robison and Chris Ingham of Northern Rail for their help in securing Network Rail’s permission for the clean up to go ahead.

Members of the Jet Clean team prepare to start work at Walkden

Discounts for rail users at Duffy’s

FOWS are delighted to announce that Duffy’s cafe have joined Cafe Chino in offering discounts to passengers on production of a valid ticket.

Duffy’s is very close to the station (turn left out of the station entrance) and opens at 7am weekdays.

For details of the discounts please call in to Duffy’s or Cafe Chino – you’re assured of a warm welcome and great choice of drinks and refreshments in both !

FOWS would like to thank Cafe Chino and Duffy’s for participating in this innovative promotion, and helping to improve the lot of passengers at Walkden.

Merseyrail show the way to secure stations

Congratulations to Merseyrail who have just become the first UK rail company to achieve “Secure Station” status for all stations on their network. This is a tremendous achievement - something people said couldn’t be done, but that has been achieved in just 4 years.

Secure station status means the station has CCTV and a variety of other design features and facilities intended to make the station as safe a place as possible for people to wait.

As users of the Northern Rail network around Manchester will be only too keenly aware, Northern Rail’s own efforts to improve station security lag some considerable way behind Merseyrail’s achievement. Even today no date has been set for installation of CCTV at Walkden.

Read more about Merseyrail’s success on their website News page.