South Western Railway has announced a string of investments totalling £1.5m, including Salisbury's station.
As one of the 58 projects being invested in, £55,000 has been earmarked to explore the options of reopening the northern entrance to Salisbury's railway station.
The northern entrance has been closed for over ten years, since the installation of barriers in the station's main entrance. It was reported at the time that only 10% of passengers used the northern entrance.
Currently, there is a gate blocking the entrance to the northern side of the station, which provides access from that side to the staff car park and Windsor Road.
In recent years, local politicians have called for the northern entrance to be reopened as part of the Fisherton Gateway Improvement Project.
Jeremy Nettle told a council meeting last year that opening it would be useful; he said, “One of the reasons why that is important is if you are a commuter walking to the station anytime in the morning before 9 o’clock, it is like going the wrong way to a football match.”
The money has been allocated to Wiltshire Council for "designing the re-opening of the northern entrance to Salisbury station".
Cllr Caroline Thomas, Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “It has been a long-term ambition of ours to reopen the northern entrance to Salisbury Railway Station to the public. The northern entrance is part of the wider masterplan for the railway station and is a scheme for SWR to deliver. We welcome this funding which will enable a feasibility study to be carried out. We will continue to support SWR and work with them to take this opportunity forward.”
Peter Williams, SWR’s Customer and Commercial Director, said: “At South Western Railway, we are always looking for ways to support the local communities our network serves, and the Customer and Communities Improvement Fund plays a vital role in this by funding schemes that will provide very real benefits for people in towns and villages across our network.
“We’re delighted to help bring these projects to life, and we look forward to seeing them completed and flourishing.”
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