Wemyss Bay Station named Best Adopted Station

Tuesday 20 October 2009 

Wemyss Bay Station has been named as the Best Adopted Station in Scotland by Passenger Focus, the independent passenger watchdog.
 
The 2009 award follows the Friends of Wemyss Bay transforming three rooms for community use on the station concourse.

The rooms were surplus to station requirements. The Friends have:

• Created a second-hand bookshop that trades six days a week to raise funds to further reinvigorate the station

• Opened a gallery which now houses an exhibition called “Action Stations” on station adoption successes, and:

• Reintroduced floral displays for which the station was once so famous.

The Friends’ work - via ScotRail’s Adopt a Station scheme which aims to put stations at the heart of communities - has now been recognised by Passenger Focus.

The Best Adopted Station 2009 certificate will be presented on Thursday 22 October to Nancy Cameron, chairman of the Friends of Wemyss Bay Station, by Robert Samson, Passenger Focus link manager.

Steve Montgomery, ScotRail’s managing director, will also attend as part of a week-long tour of the network on the fifth anniversary of FirstGroup being awarded the Scottish rail franchise.    

He said: "ScotRail’s Adopt a Station scheme seeks to put stations at the heart of their communities - and the Friends have certainly taken Wemyss Bay Station to their hearts.

“They have made remarkable progress since holding their first event in April. They are returning the station to the floral magnificence for which it was once famed. 

Robert Samson said: "The Friends are to be congratulated for making full use of surplus accommodation and also for reintroducing gardening.

“We have been impressed by how the group has engaged with rail industry stakeholders - for example by encouraging Network Rail to embark on its present programme of repairs which is supported by the Railway Heritage Trust."

Earlier this year, the Friends’ work was praised in a Parliamentary motion by Stuart McMillan MSP.

It reads: “That the Parliament welcomes the work being carried out by the Friends of Wemyss Bay Station who are a newly formed group of volunteers with a keen interest in and admiration for Wemyss Bay station; notes that the group has been granted the use of the empty accommodation at the station to use as a heritage site, and further notes that the group plans to collect and display photographs of the station in its Edwardian prime and has reintroduced floral displays as a reminder of the days when the station was famous for its displays of potted plants and hanging baskets."

Media enquiries
John Yellowlees, ScotRail external relations manager: Tel 0141 335 4787

NOTES TO EDITORS

ScotRail runs more than 2,100 services a day. It was last month named UK passenger Operator of the Year at the prestigious National Rail Awards – for the second year in a row. The award recognised ScotRail’s record high customer satisfaction ratings and punctuality and reliability ratings; passenger growth of more than 20% in the last five years, and the largest expansion of services in the past decade.

ScotRail’s Adopt a Station scheme seeks to put stations at the heart of their communities, by encouraging local individuals or groups to put forward proposals on uses for vacant accommodation or through the introduction of floral displays, beds and planters.

Since launched in September 2005, the scheme has gone from strength to strength - with 81 stations now benefitting from floral displays maintained by volunteers.  Other initiatives include spectacular murals, coffee shops, a charity bookshop, a toy library and community meeting rooms.

Other new uses for surplus station accommodation in 2009 have included a satellite office for HITRANS at Arisaig, a costumes store at Arbroath for the Abbey Timethemes organisation and a studio at Ladybank for flower painter Kirsty Lorenz.