On Friday 6th October 2000 at a ceremony on the forecourt of Carnforth Station, Railtrack plc and Carnforth Station and Railway Trust Co. Ltd. announced the start of work on the refurbishment of Carnforth Station.

"This work is going to arrest the 40-year sad decline of Carnforth station and start the regeneration and restoration of the station," Chairman of the Friends of Carnforth Station Michael Chorley told people who had gathered for the celebratory ceremony.

The ceremony was a celebration of the effort that has been put in by the Trust since its formation in 1996 and by individuals before to save this famous station from likely demolition and to bring about its refurbishment for the benefit of Carnforth, the surrounding villages and those parts of North Lancashire and South Cumbria which are linked to Carnforth, particularly by rail.

The local group has raised more than £1.1 million, with the breakthrough coming in November 1999 when Railtrack pledged to carry out £500,000 of regeneration work at the station. Railtrack agreed to fund improvements to the subway, platform and roof and the Trust's ambitious plans which will see the creation of a visitor centre, refreshment room and six retail units which are due to be finished by next summer.

Initially the work done will be by Railtrack as part of its Station Regeneration Programme. This work, primarily for the benefit of rail users, has been designed to compliment the Trust’s proposals to bring the Station Buildings back into sustainable uses which will help regenerate Carnforth and the communities it serves. Work on the buildings is programmed to commence in January 2001 and to be occupied in phases between the spring and late summer of 2001.

MP for Morecambe, Geraldine Smith, who attended the ceremony at the station, thanked everyone who had been involved in the project.

"I remember I used to come to meetings way before I was made an MP, and in those days it really did seem as though it was the impossible dream," she said. "I am sure if it had not been for the sheer determination of a lot of people this building would have been demolished which would have been such a tragedy."

The scheme which is to bring the buildings back into a mix of uses reflecting Carnforth’s Railway and Industrial History, its connection with the film "Brief Encounter" and its strategic position as the hub of the local transport network has been designed to create the opportunity for new businesses to establish themselves on the station with the resultant new jobs and to attract up to 60,000 new visitors into the town each year, visitors who will hopefully patronise our shops, hotels, pubs, caravan sites and other tourist attractions in North Lancashire, South Cumbria and around Morecambe Bay.

The cost of these phases of the Trust’s project is £1,150,000 and the Trust has to date raised provisionally £1,100,000 from a number of sources including Railtrack PLC, The Railway Heritage Trust, The David Lean Foundation, Lancaster City Council, Lancashire County Council, The Lancashire Tourism Partnership, The North West Development Agency. Prior to this the Trust had raised nearly £30,000 to fund the initial feasibility study. This was funded by the Local Authorities, Lawtec, the Furness Building Society and a number of local benefactors.

Contact: David Taylor