INGATESTONE UPGRADE

Smart station: loco No 66762 hauls 4L02, the 03.50 Hams Hall to Felixstowe container working, through Ingatestone on 15 May 2017. Antony Guppy

A £2.4 MILLION upgrade at Ingatestone station in Essex has been completed by operator Greater Anglia.

The work has involved restoration and repairs to station buildings and platform canopies, the creation of a new waiting room, electrical improvements including upgraded lighting, improved toilets and refurbishment of the footbridge. The station is Grade 2 listed, and the work to the 1844 buildings on the down platform builds on a previous scheme completed in 1988. Both platforms have also been resurfaced and repaired and widened where possible.

Coffee shop: inside the up side station building at Ingatestone. Antony Guppy

A £151,000 contribution from the Railway Heritage Trust has also enabled the heritage footbridge to be restored and the disused 1884 buildings on the station’s platform 2 to be renovated, with a coffee shop, waiting room and new toilets provided. A separate scheme has also seen new cycle storage facilities installed.