[A] notorious flooding hotspot at Oxenholme station has been removed, thanks to the Great North Rail Project.
Network Rail’s Team Orange engineers have refurbished and made safe an old 30m wide and 1.5m deep Victorian pond located above the entrance to the station. They have also improved its outfall – a large brick culvert going under the station.
This area of land in which the pond sits is not owned or registered, the Land Registry confirmed. This means over the years it has not been maintained. It frequently floods during heavy rain causing havoc for customers and taxi drivers.
Network Rail’s drainage work began in November 2017. It was completed at the start of this year.
John Winstanley, senior asset manager at Network Rail, said: “As well as making flooding to the station entrance and its subway a thing of the past, our £50,000 drainage improvement work will prevent water seeping from the pond into the station building and into a retaining wall beside the taxi rank. I for one am glad to see this persistent flooding problem now dealt with.”
Katharine Cole, customer experience manager at Virgin Trains, said: “We’re glad we could work closely with Network Rail to improve Oxenholme station, which is an important gateway to the Lake District – an area loved by so many of our customers and the local community. Record numbers of people are using Oxenholme station and we’d like to thank them for their patience during the work to improve the front of the station.”
Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, added: “I’ve been concerned for a long time about the safety of the pond at Oxenholme Station. This news will come as a great relief for train users, but especially hard-working taxi drivers whose rank is just below the wall that holds the pond.”
