Mills Hill station upgrades due to start this spring

Upgrades that will make a local railway station more user-friendly for disabled people, families with prams and those carrying heavy luggage are set to get on track this spring.

It comes after planning officials have given the green light for work to begin on the £3.3m improvement of Mills Hill Station, in Middleton.

The enhancements – part of Network Rail’s Access for All programme –  include a new ramp on the Manchester-bound platform, and a lift and staircase on the Rochdale-bound side.

Rochdale Council has identified the upgrade of Mills Hill station as a priority within the Middleton town centre/Oldham Road corridor.

The authority’s policies also focus on improving transport links with Manchester city centre and ‘key destinations’ in the city centre ‘and beyond’.

The work was originally scheduled to begin last year, but was delayed by contract issues.

Network Rail sponsor Simon Smith Network said: “While upgrade work to extend both platforms at Mills Hills station to make way for longer trains has recently been completed, the Access for All improvements, which will create step-free access, will now start this spring. 

“This is due to a change in contractor which requires time to work through the designs. The scheme is due to complete by spring 2020.”

Phil Burke, Rochdale Council’s cabinet member for transport, said he was delighted work would soon commence on the next phase of enhancements.

He said: “We welcome this improvement to Mills Hill station, it’s a very popular station with the commuters who use it to get to and from Manchester on a daily basis and those who go into the city centre for shopping.

“It’s always been a well-used, well-established station and we welcome any improvement that will make it a little bit easier to use.”

He continued: “It’s a massive boost for people with disabilities and gives them another option and an opportunity to go out and enjoy themselves like anyone else.

“It’s a long over-due refurbishment which we welcome with open arms. Our concerns have been raised many times with TfGM and they have finally listened to us – the people of Middleton and the local councillors – who have fought for a long time for these improvements.”

A planning officer’s report describes the existing timber and concrete ramp to the Rochdale-bound platform as ‘an unattractive feature of the area’.

But it says the replacement steel-framed staircase will be ‘a higher quality and more contemporary installation’, which improves the appearance of both the station and surrounding area.

It adds that the new lift shaft and access platforms will be ‘reasonably prominent’, but that this is ‘not unacceptable given their intended purpose in what is an established railway station environment’.

The developments will result in a significant loss of greenery – most notably around the existing access to the eastern platform .

Planners accept this will have 'a significant impact' on the appearance of the area, whilst a council report adds that excessive vegetation around railway stations can reduce visibility and make people feel unsafe – particularly at night.

It continues: “It is therefore recognised that there is a wider public benefit to removing some of the existing vegetation in this area, provided that a robust, maintainable and attractive replacement planting scheme is proposed and implemented.”

Mills Hill station in Middleton is used by 330,000 customers per year.

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter