IMPROVEMENTS to Goostrey railway station have been welcomed by supporters.

Northern is to add CCTV and a customer information system to upgrade facilities at the station.

Friends of Goostrey Station have welcomed the improvements which should be completed by the end of the year.

Last summer the glass in the 1890s oil lamp was broken, much of the school art display in a platform shelter was torn down and litter was scattered so it's hoped CCTV will help prevent further incidents.

The electronic screens indicating the times of the next trains will be useful as the station is unmanned at present.

FOGS hope that the next improvement will be the renovation of the old station building at Goostrey.

Mike Jarvis, chairman of FOGS said: “We regard the building on the Manchester platform which used to house the ticket office as iconic; without it the station is just another stop on the line between Crewe and Manchester.

"Recently the London Midland Railway Society identified it as being a Victorian modular railway building of a type built between 1860 and 1920 and only a handful remain.”

Peter Godfrey, chair of Goostrey Parish council and vice-chair of FOGS said: “A photo from 1891 with six station staff standing on the platform clearly shows the current building on the Manchester side and a similar one on the Crewe side.

"However the remaining building is in a poor state of repair.”

The CCTV and customer information system that are to be provided by Northern, are part of their multi-million pound Better Stations investment project to update and improve stations over the next three years.

The Better Stations project will see a significant change to the way stations look and operate.

Matthew Worman, regional stakeholder manager at Arriva Rail North said: “We are extremely happy with the work to continually improve the way our stations look and function. This franchise welcomes an unprecedented level of investment in enhancing our stations. Improving the customer experience is at

the heart of our plans, and, by providing modern facilities such as new ticket vending machines and upgraded waiting shelters, our stations will benefit existing users and also attract new customers.”

As part of the multimillion pound Better Stations fund, Northern will be updating 147 of their stations across the region.

Arriva Rail North Limited operates the Northern franchise. Northern is the second largest train operator in the UK and it will run regional and commuter services across the north until March 2025.

The operator will oversee the complete removal of Pacer trains by the end of 2019, and will invest £500 million in 281 new air-conditioned carriages.