PROGRESS has been made to install lifts at Pokesdown railway station.

Following a meeting at Pokesdown Station on September 13, convened by Tom Hayes MP, steps are now underway to bring accessibility to the station.

After years of campaigning dating back to 2011, a scheme has moved into detailed design work.

This latest phase involves setting the project’s technical design to overcome complexities such as limited space at the station.

The phase will also secure an accurate estimate of the costs involved in making the station accessible following the increase in construction costs prompted by the cost-of-living crisis.

Tom Hayes, MP for Bournemouth East, also recently met with the Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh, to discuss strategies for moving the project forward.

He said: “Pokesdown Railway Station hits at the heart of beautiful Boscombe, but disabled people are shut out.

“The community has long wanted an accessible station, and finally, we’re making progress with bringing lifts to Pokesdown.

“I will continue to work closely with everyone who has a positive role to play in making Pokesdown more accessible, including BCP Council who, I am pleased, made a funding commitment to this.”

The design stage is expected to be complete by late summer 2025 to enable South Western Railway (SWR) and National Rail (NR) to move forward with an affordable construction phase.

All being well, if design work and funding allow, construction could begin towards the end of 2025. Installation is anticipated to take 18 months and would depend on coordination with other scheduled rail projects.

In addition to the new lifts, at the prompting of Tom Hayes MP, SWR and NR are making other improvements at the station such as repainting of the station’s interior and bringing improvements to the front of the station building, including planting flowers.

A representative from South Western Railway said: “We welcome this next stage of progress of carrying out the detailed design on the lifts scheme and look forward to the outcomes in 2025 working closely with Tom Hayes MP and our partners at Network Rail and BCP Council.”