Supporting railway heritage
Managing and maintaining our heritage structures such as King’s Cross
and Paddington stations can be very complex. We respect their value and
tradition, but we also need to make them fit for the changing and
growing demands of today’s railway, and we must also maximise the income
from our property assets.
We work with local authorities and others to design schemes that are
sympathetic to the local environment. In the redevelopment of London
King’s Cross station, for example, we’ve worked closely with English
Heritage to provide a modern, fit-for-purpose transport interchange that
enhances the Grade I listed structure.
We provided £2m in grant funding to the Railway Heritage Trust in 2009/10.
Working with the Railway Heritage Trust
We also support the Railway Heritage Trust which conserves and
enhances buildings of special or historical interest. We provided £2m in
grant funding to the Trust in 2009/10.
Our property specialists work with the Trust to find new uses for
redundant railway property. As well as supporting the restoration of
historic buildings for commercial use, the Trust has supported charities
and not-for-profit groups to lease redundant buildings and attract
third-party restoration funding.
Recent projects include converting redundant rooms at Fiefe's
Ladybank station, into an artist’s studio, and refurbishing abandoned
stations at Brading and Sandown on the Isle of Wight for community use.
The Trust has also recently supported restoration work at Halifax
station to help recreate the glory of this station, and given support
for the superb new frontage to Liverpool Lime Street station. It has
also supported illuminatiing viaducts to emphasise these landmarks, most
recently at London Road, Brighton.
Partners for heritage
We also work with the Railway Heritage Committee, the National
Railway Museum and heritage railways around Britain. Where there is no
cost to us, we support the re-use of redundant assets, like closed
signal boxes, on heritage railways.