Long wait for station lifts could be stalled again

A long-running campaign for lifts at a railway station has suffered a setback after a council said it could withdraw its financial contribution.

The lifts at Pokesdown Station, near AFC Bournemouth's Vitality Stadium, have been out of use for more than 40 years, according to campaigners.

In 2021, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council pledged £2.6m to support work by South Western Railway (SWR) and Network Rail.

However, the council said it could no longer justify the expense due to increased borrowing costs.

The 42 steep steps at Pokesdown Station have caused injuries and are a barrier to wheelchair users and others.

In 2014, former MP Tobias Ellwood presented a 1,200-signature petition calling for an upgrade.

New lifts were due to be installed by SWR by the end of 2019, according to its franchise agreement.

However, the £7m project has repeatedly stalled due to reported financial issues.

Tom Hayes, the Labour MP for Bournemouth East said; "After months of hard work, I was weeks away from delivering step-free access that disabled people and parents with buggies desperately needed.

"Now, without meaningful warning or discussion, the council is sabotaging the scheme when they could have raised this risk of pulling the money earlier in the design works.

"I will not accept disabled people being told to wait for basic access, or families being denied step-free travel. I'm working behind the scenes to rescue this project."

In a statement, BCP Council said its contribution, which would be funded through borrowing, was no longer appropriate after "years of delays".

Councillor Mike Cox, in charge of finance, said: "The length of time it has taken rail companies to progress the work means the borrowing costs have increased significantly.

"The £2.6m cost originally earmarked would actually cost residents across our three towns £9.75m in total over the 50-year term of the loan, if you include interest payments."

The authority said the interest would have amounted to more than £195,000 a year.

Cox added: "We simply can't justify spending nearly £10m on something that is the responsibility of the rail operator, and when we are having to take difficult decisions to protect services for the most vulnerable in our community."

The authority said its cabinet would meet on 11 February to consider a report recommending that the funding be withdrawn.

However, it said it would continue discussions with Network Rail and the new public train operator Great British Railways (GBR).

In a statement on behalf of both groups, South Western Railway said pulling the funding would put the project at risk.

It said: "We were disappointed to learn today about BCP's proposal to withdraw its £2.6m contribution to the nearly £7m Pokesdown lifts project, which was gearing up to get spades in the ground this summer."