Llanelli Railway Station Improvements

Improvements now to be made at Llanelli Railway Station…

Following concerns raised by a local Town Councillor and residents within the community, Arriva Trains Wales have announced that there will now be a refurbishment at Llanelli Railway Station.

Sean Rees, Plaid Cymru Llanelli Town Councillor has led the campaign for several months and acted on residents concerns calling for further improvements to be carried out at Llanelli Railway Station. Councillor Rees wrote to Arriva Trains Wales and Network Rail on behalf of the community urging for action to be taken.

At the time, Councillor Rees said:

“The current conditions at the station are completely unacceptable, surely seating areas can be provided so that passengers are not left shivering outside in the cold while waiting for a train to arrive. There should also be toilets available 24/7 for people to use. The station should be staffed at a level sufficient to keep rail users safe and secure. I strongly believe that public ownership of our railways is the way forward where the profits instead of going into the hands of private companies can be reinvested into better services for our communities. A transfer of powers over railways to Wales including the transfer of full funding for our railway infrastructure is also well overdue.”

The improvement works have now commenced on Monday 30th October and are scheduled to be completed in February 2018. This includes the creation of 2 new waiting rooms and an upgrading of the existing toilet facilities. The works will be phased as follows:

Phase 1 – Upgrading of gents toilets and a new waiting room for Platform 2

Phase 2 – Upgrading of staff, disabled and ladies toilets

Phase 3 – A new waiting room for Platform 1

The refurbishment is being funded through the National Station Improvement Programme (NSIP) with the works expected to last for approximately 14 weeks on site. Temporary toilets will be installed at the front of the station off Great Western Crescent (Platform 2 side) for customers and staff to use during the works.

Councillor Rees has welcomed the latest developments:

“This is great news for Llanelli. I am really pleased to hear that progress is now being made, this just goes to show what can be achieved with a strong community campaign. The stronger we are, the greater influence we will have. I would like to thank the residents in my ward and across Llanelli who highlighted such problems through our community survey. I want to see residents having more of a say on the issues that matter to all of us.

“I would like to also thank my Plaid Cymru colleagues both locally and nationally who have been supportive of my efforts. There’s plenty more to do to improve our community but we have the drive and determination to get things done.

“I’ve often said that this isn’t as good as it gets. None of us should settle for services that are just better than nothing, we should all want the very best for our area. I am sure many in our communities will now welcome these improvements.”