​Top silver honour for Cricklewood station and local Town Team

Friday, 30 September 2016: Station adopters Cricklewood Town Team and Thameslink took the top honour at the Silver level of the It's Your Station category at last night's Association of Community Rail Partnership awards.

Six months ago the local team joined up with Station Manager James Gillett to adopt the station and together they have completely transformed the entrance to the inner London location.

Working with the Thameslink team and other businesses, the walkway into the station now includes beautiful flower displays, locally produced photo collages, as well as the amazing "Cricklewood" sign, created out of recycled timber.

Neighbouring Elstree & Borehamwood station, which is adopted by community group First Impressions, was also shortlisted in the Gold level of this award.

Stuart Cheshire, Passenger Services Director, said: "We are committed to putting our stations and services at the heart of the communities they serve. Over the past year we have seen so many more groups adopt our stations and work with us to further tailor the locations to the local areas. All of their efforts are wonderful and I'm so pleased that the excellent efforts at Cricklewood have been recognised. The volunteers and station team have undertaken excellent work and I thank them for this.

"We are also keen to help educate youngsters in rail safety as well as help make our services increasingly accessible and I am pleased our effort in these areas were recognised too."

Marie Hancock from the Cricklewood Town Team, said: "It's wonderful that all the hard work and effort by the volunteers in Cricklewood, supported by James Gillett and his team at the Station, has been recognised by this award. We are so pleased to be involved with the station and to win this award is fabulous.

"This is just the start as we are now planning the Cricklewood Christmas Lights Switch On taking place on 18 November when the Town Centre Christmas tree will be at Cricklewood Station this year and decorated with bespoke decorations made by local children and funded by Thameslink."

Govia Thameslink Railway, which runs Thameslink, also took second place in the Involving Diverse Group for the Try the Train events run with Sussex Community Rail Partnership. Earlier this year teams from across the network came together to provide groups with a range of disabilities the chance to learn more about rail travel. These sessions included time with local station teams, as well as short trips to help develop confidence with rail travel.

The company was also shortlisted for the Go-Learn material which has provided safe and independent travel sessions to over 6,500 in a year, as well as the work undertaken to extend station partnerships across the network.

ends

Notes to editors

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Govia Thameslink Railway

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) operates Thameslink, Great Northern, Southern and Gatwick Express services as follows:

Thameslink – services between Bedford and Brighton, Luton/St Albans and Sutton, Wimbledon 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

GTR is now the largest rail franchise in the UK in terms of passenger numbers, trains, revenue and staff: GTR carries about 326 million passenger journeys per year, employs around 6,500 people and generates annual passenger revenues of approximately £1.3bn.

The GTR investment programme for stations includes funding for more CCTV, toilet refurbishments, new retail facilities, help points and car park improvements – as well as plans for increased motorcycle storage and improved transport integration.

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