Work is on track

£14.5m revamp of town centre station begins

Work has started on the £14.5m redevelopment of Motherwell station.

The initial stage of the project will involve the demolition of an old building at the bottom of Platform 1 to make way for a new staff car park.

The demolition and construction of the new car park is expected to take around six weeks to complete and will have no operational impact on the station.

However, the taxi rank at the front of Motherwell station will close over the coming weeks to make way for staff portable cabins in preparation for the next stage of the redevelopment works. Taxis can pick up and drop off on Muir Street.

The second stage of the redevelopment will see work take place on the main station building over a six-month period, which will bring changes to how customers access to the station platforms.

The transport integration phase of the project will follow in 2021.

Once complete the project will deliver:

■ An enhanced station forecourt and building with glazed roof and brighter, larger concourse.

■ Improved ticket retailing facilities.

■ Enhanced retail environment with food and drink offering.

■ Refurbished customer toilets and waiting facilities.

■ Improvements to pedestrian and cycling access.

■ Expansion of bus facility on Muir Street.

■ New facilities for taxis, car dropoffs and disabled parking.

■ Expansion of nearby park and ride facilities at Farm Street.

John Macdonald, Scotrail project manager, said: “It’s great to see the redevelopment work at Motherwell station getting underway.

“The town is ready for a railway station that matches its dynamic and forward-looking perspective, and these improvements will transform the relationship between the station and the town centre.

“It will open up a wealth of possibilities for Motherwell, creating more options and better connections for our customers; for business and leisure travel, and encourage more people to travel in a low-carbon way. It will create a gateway to Glasgow and beyond.”

Michael Matheson, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity said: “It’s great to see this welcome project get underway following an understandable delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic. While we are still in the early phases of exiting lockdown, progress on projects like this shows that rail construction is slowly and safely getting back to business.

“Redevelopment of key hubs like Motherwell station will not only help draw people back to public transport but also, in time, encourage even more people to make the shift from road to rail.”