ECML Gets a Package of Improvements
24 Jan 2006
The East Coast Main Line will see £32m in improvements begin later this year as a result of a new finance deal between GNER and Barclay’s Bank.The package allows for 900 car park places, 400 covered cycle spaces, new station signage and passenger information, extra lifts, seating, and ticket barriers, plus improved lounges, travel centres, toilets and retail facilities.
Money will also be spent on maintenance facilities, new driver simulators, and providing passenger information in public areas such as shopping centres and bus stations. There will also be new ‘fast ticket’ machines.
Explaining the new package, GNER finance director Shaun Mills said: “We set out some very demanding specifications, tailored specifically to meet the demands of GNER’s new franchise over its full term.”
He continued: “These included flexible drawdown patterns, low interest charges driven off the structural aspects of the deal, and long availability and repayment periods.”
Rob Riddleston, Barclays’ head of transport and logistics, added: “The financing will help ensure substantial improvements are made to the East Coast Main Line.”