‘Much more spacious it’s bigger and better’
PASSENGERS AND DRIVERS’ VERDICT ON NEW BUS STATION
ST Margaret’s Bus Station in Leicester opened to the public for the first time yesterday after a multi-millionpound revamp – and passengers are delighted with the result.
The carbon neutral bus station is the UK’s first, making the project a special achievement for the city.
It had been closed for 18 months while it was redeveloped.
The redesigned station includes new facilities and features, including bike storage, live travel information screens and a cafe which is yet to open.
Claudette Francis, 70, who often travels on National Express coaches, was especially pleased with the coach operator’s new site where customers can now wait indoors.
“It’s very posh, isn’t it?. Very lovely,” she said. “It looks really nice compared to what we had before.”
Husband and wife, Prabhubhai Parmar, 83, and Chanchal Parmar, 77, said they were “proud” of the new station. The pair made the short trip from their Belgrave home for a visit on opening day.
“We would use the station a lot to take the coach and buses here and there. We’ve just come to see the station today. I feel very proud. It’s got a good system – it used to be so crowded and now it’s more open and cleaner,” Mr Parmar said.
Another couple, in their 90s, said they were “very pleased” with the new station.
“We’ve only just about got going after Covid because we haven’t been out, but we used the buses quite a lot,” the pensioners said. “It’s much more spacious - it’s bigger and better.”
Bus driver Alex Pereira, 45, said: “It looks much more spacious than before and there is more seating and a nice area to have a coffee.”
A second driver, who did not wish to be named, said the toilets were especially important for staff members, saying: “We’re on the road a lot so having nicer facilities is important. It looks more like an airport now.”
The older building’s toilets were the subject of complaints, according to Leicester City Council’s director of planning, transport and economic development, Andrew Smith.
“That was one of the things people complained about a lot so I’m glad we’ve been able to deliver on it,” he said. “It’s a lovely new environment, but not only that, it’s carbon neutral.
“This means the carbon cost of the building, at all stages, from building to use, has minimised its impact on climate change.”
The roof has been fitted with 390 solar panels that will generate power for the building and any excess energy will go back into the grid. The station has also been outfitted with electric bus-charging points.
Andrew added: “This space itself is part of our commitment to encouraging people to use the buses more. It’s easy to navigate, it has realtime travel information and helps those who want to travel by public transport more, do just that.”
The multi-million pound project exceeded the budget by £800,000 after being hit with increased material costs and supply chain issues, bringing the final cost to £14.3 million.