Press release -
Community pride at Palmers Green station improvements
Community volunteers are thrilled with the transformation of Great Northern’s Palmers Green station and hope the new look will be a source of pride for residents, as well as boosting footfall on the high street.
Thanks to the efforts of Palmers Green Action Team and funding from Govia Thameslink Railway, Palmers Green station is now home to an impressive six-metre nature-themed mural and a new planter with a large Palmers Green sign. A third project on the horizon is the creation of a mosaic on one of the platforms.
The Action Team, who are station partners, hope these improvements will help give a sense of identity to the area. They came up with the ideas for these projects and then worked with artists to bring these ideas to life. The mural just outside the station was created by ATM Street Art and the planter and sign were the work of Bread Collective. Artist Alex McHallam, who grew up in Palmers Green, will be working on the mosaic.
Action Team member Lucy Burton said: “As a group, we have had amazing feedback already; it’s been really fantastic. I hope the new additions have given a little lift to people after these terrible weeks and months. The whole point of the project was to do something for the community and to make people feel proud of Palmers Green and want to be in Palmers Green, thereby increasing footfall to the centre and to shops. By showing we care about Palmers Green, it will hopefully encourage people to love being here. We’ve already had lots of people volunteering to help with the planting, which is brilliant.”
Money for the improvements came from GTR’s Passenger Benefit Fund (PBF), set up to provide tangible benefits to passengers. PBF project manager for the Palmers Green works, Festus Oba said: “This project has successfully brought new life into Palmers Green station and with planting to be done pretty soon, this station will be further transformed. The excitement generated by these improvements is what the PBF is all about. Seeing passengers taking photos of the work and reading various comments on the local user group Facebook page is heartwarming for me as the project manager.”
Ends
Editor’s notes
The £15m Passenger Benefit Fund was established to provide tangible improvements for passengers across the Govia Thameslink Railway network.
More than 4,200 surveys were completed by passengers, rail user groups, councillors and other interested parties. A further 90 group submissions helped provide input for 96% of the 274 stations.
A website dedicated to the fund was visited almost 24,000 times and the GTR team behind the scheme attended almost 70 meetings to talk to local people about their stations.
Project managers have been consulting further with local groups and stakeholders to assess the feasibility of what people have requested. Among the many projects put forward are new toilets, improved seating and better access.
For more information on the artists involved at Palmers Green station, visit:
Topics
Categories
Govia Thameslink Railway
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services as follows:
- Thameslink – cross-London services between Bedford/Peterborough/Cambridge and Brighton/Horsham/Littlehampton/East Grinstead, and between Luton/St Albans and Sutton/Wimbledon/Rainham; plus services between London and Sevenoaks
- Great Northern – services between London and Welwyn, Hertford, Peterborough, Cambridge and King’s Lynn
- Southern – services between London and the Sussex coast (Brighton, Worthing, Eastbourne, Bognor Regis, Hastings) and parts of Surrey, Kent and Hampshire (Ashford International, Southampton, Portsmouth)
- Gatwick Express – fast, non-stop direct services between Gatwick Airport and London Victoria
www.southernrailway.com, www.thameslinkrailway.com, www.gatwickexpress.com, www.greatnorthernrail.com
