Great Yarmouth rail station’s waiting room is set to receive a facelift and at the same time, the toilets will be refurbished and a Changes Places toilet facility installed to make the station more accessible.
Train operator, Greater Anglia, is carrying out the project in partnership with the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership, and Muscular Dystrophy UK in partnership with the Department for Transport, who are providing funding for the project.
Changing Places toilets are much larger than other accessible toilets and have equipment, including a changing bench and hoist, designed to support disabled people who need extra assistance.
The existing male, female and accessible toilets will also be completely refurbished to improve facilities for customers. In addition, the waiting room is to receive new seating and flooring, a fresh coat of paint, as well as more efficient heating and lighting and a new information screen showing train running information.
The work commenced at the beginning of February and is expected to be completed this month.
Andy Fletcher, CEO Muscular Dystrophy UK, the leading charity for over 110,000 people in the UK living with one of over 60 muscle wasting and weakening conditions said:
“We’re delighted that Greater Anglia will be opening a Changing Places toilet at Great Yarmouth station. This will be a game-changer for commuters living with neuromuscular conditions and those living with other disabilities, their carers and families in need of such facility.
“An estimated 250,000 people across the UK are in need of a Changing Places toilet. The new facility will allow people to have an accessible journey that otherwise may have been excluded. Muscular Dystrophy UK is proud to co-chair the Changing Places Consortium. This is one of several new Changing Place toilets across the rail network and we hope this number will rise to make travelling easier across the whole network.”
Martin Halliday, development officer at Community Rail Norfolk, parent organisation of the Wherry Lines Community Rail Partnership (CRP) said:
“The Wherry Lines are pleased to have partnered with Muscular Dystrophy UK to co-fund the creation of a much-needed Changing Places facility at Great Yarmouth railway station.
“The Partnership also welcomes ongoing upgrade works by Greater Anglia to existing toilet and waiting facilities at the station, which complement a number of improvements and initiatives funded by the Wherry Lines in recent years.”
Rebecca Richardson, Greater Anglia’s Accessibility Manager, said:
“I’m delighted that we are about to install a Changing Places toilet at Great Yarmouth which will provide more people the confidence and opportunity to travel by rail. This is the second changing places toilet we’ve installed on our network, after Ely became the first one two years ago.
“We want to make sure that everyone can have a good journey with us and can travel with confidence, so this is a really positive step and we look forward to bringing more of these facilities to other stations on our network, where possible, in the future.”