NEW facilities to improve the access at Aldershot railway station have finally been given the go-ahead, thanks to a funding pledge from government.

However, the group that has spent years lobbying for the improvements says the funding is still not sufficient to bring the station up to an acceptable standard.

Aldershot is one of 39 stations that have been earmarked to receive a share of a £37.5 million government grant to improve access by March 2014.

The decision has been made years after the Alton Line Users Association (ALUA) pledged to fight for improvements to Aldershot station, after it missed out on funding from the same pot in 2008.

How much will be spent in Aldershot and exactly what it will be spent on has not yet been officially decided.

It is believed the money will go towards new lifts between the platform and subway.

Mike Roberts, a member of the ALUA and Rushmoor’s ward councillor for Heron Wood, welcomed the funding but felt there was still a long way to go.

He said: “Aldershot station is going downhill, to put it mildly, so this funding is certainly a step in the right direction.

“But the whole thing has been a bit frustrating. Yes, it is good to get the money but there are stations like Winchester and Basingstoke being upgraded every year.

“There is still so much more to do to this station, as well as the access problems but because we are on a branch mainline, we are out of sight, out of mind.”

A Department for Transport spokesman said the money, which comes under the 10-year Access for All scheme, can be spent on lifts, ramps, raised humps on platforms and accessible toilets.

He said the money would be divided between the stations as it was required.

Mr Roberts believes the money will be used in Aldershot to provide lifts, which he estimates could cost up to £750,000.

At present, only one of the station’s three platforms is immediately accessible to people in wheelchairs.

Step-free access to platforms two and three is only available when passengers are accompanied by staff over a barrow crossing, for which they are asked to allow at least 15 minutes for transfer.

Despite this, Aldershot missed out on funding during the last round of announcements, while Farnborough Main and Fleet stations were both included on the list.

Mr Roberts said it was unlikely Aldershot would receive the same funding as Farnborough – which has recently opened a new footbridge, lifts to all platforms and secure bike compounds – despite other renovation work being needed ‘desperately’.

He said: “We need to step up and do something because there are boarded-up windows, the toilets desperately need improving and we get a lot of complaints about the general state of the station.

“We want people to come to the town and get a good impression, especially with the Westgate development going up.

“But when you look at the state of the bus station, too, it does not fill you with a great deal of enthusiasm that anyone is doing much to up the vista of Aldershot.”

Network Rail would be likely to foot the bill for any future renovation that does not come under the access bracket, he added.

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