LIFTS could soon be installed at Weston-super-Mare station to make it more accessible to all, writes John Wimperis.

While both platforms at the station can be accessed from the road without needing to navigate stairs, the only way to cross between them within the station is by using the step-access-only footbridge.

Now Network Rail plans to install two lifts at each end of the footbridge, as part of its Putting Passengers First programme. The works are supported by the government’s Access for All fund, with the Department for Transport identifying the station as one that would benefit from the funding.

The unused exterior stairs near the platform 2 entrance would be demolished and bricked up, as part of the plan, while other parts of the existing stairs inside the station will be replaced with new stairs and ramps up to a landing where the lifts will be.

Network Rail submitted a notification for prior approval for the work, which does not require a planning application, to North Somerset Council.

The possibility of building a second lift-accessed footbridge, instead of reworking the existing bridge was also explored, but it was decided it would be “less dominating” to rework the current footbridge.

In a letter submitted with their notice, Network Rail stated that adapting the current footbridge  would also “allow all members of the public to use the same footbridge, ensuring that all users have equal travel distances between the entrances, platforms and bridge.”