Harlington station given floral facelift

Harlington is the latest Thameslink station to enjoy a floral facelift as part of an ongoing railway gardening project.

A team of Govia Thameslink Railway staff from GTR’s Letchworth Distribution Centre, King’s Cross Support workers and Harlington station painted and filled six new wooden planters with 925 litres of compost on Wednesday (October 9). They planted a variety of locally sourced hardy shrubs, interspersed with multi-coloured pansies.

The planters were all constructed by inmates at Her Majesty’s Prison, The Mount, based at Hemel Hempstead, as part of an ongoing community programme with GTR.

At the entrance to the station, two troughs were also spruced up and now contain a selection of plants to appeal to the senses, including rosemary and lavender.

The next part of the gardening project at Harlington will be to weed the embankment on platform four to prepare the area for more wildflowers, due to be planted in spring.

Bedford to Harlington Station Manager Bernadette Lee said: “It looks so bright and vibrant now. The customers on platform one were saying how lovely it looked. The station commuter groups have also said it looks beautiful and said ‘thank you for looking after our station’. It was a team effort and a very successful day.”

Since April this year, Flitwick, St Albans, Harpenden and Bedford have also benefitted from similar planting schemes.

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