ryan125hst
Established Member
The thread about station toilets got me thinking about all of the stations that have no toilets, ticket offices, waiting rooms ect, but the buildings still stand.
I am lucky to live in Retford, as the station is on the ECML and has an open ticket office, recently refurbished toilets and 3 waiting rooms. It used to have a cafe, but this has been shut for as long as I can remember, only opening when the Bassetlaw (North Notts) Railway Society has an open day.
Gainsborough Lea Road, on the other hand, is no more than a couple of platforms and waiting shelters. The thing is that the station building is still standing. When my Grandparents took me to the station a few years ago, they had been turned into a garden center. However, it later closed and, as far as I know, the building is still empty.
What I wanted to know is, how much would it cost to refurbish the building and install a ticket office, toilet facilities, a waiting room and maybe a small cafe? Surely a small station wouldn't need many staff and would be cheap to run. They might even be able to ask for staff on a voluntary basis.
It would make stations that have empty station buildings so much better. There must be loads of them up and down the country. Is it plausible, or would it be too expensive or too difficult to be authorized?
I am lucky to live in Retford, as the station is on the ECML and has an open ticket office, recently refurbished toilets and 3 waiting rooms. It used to have a cafe, but this has been shut for as long as I can remember, only opening when the Bassetlaw (North Notts) Railway Society has an open day.
Gainsborough Lea Road, on the other hand, is no more than a couple of platforms and waiting shelters. The thing is that the station building is still standing. When my Grandparents took me to the station a few years ago, they had been turned into a garden center. However, it later closed and, as far as I know, the building is still empty.
What I wanted to know is, how much would it cost to refurbish the building and install a ticket office, toilet facilities, a waiting room and maybe a small cafe? Surely a small station wouldn't need many staff and would be cheap to run. They might even be able to ask for staff on a voluntary basis.
It would make stations that have empty station buildings so much better. There must be loads of them up and down the country. Is it plausible, or would it be too expensive or too difficult to be authorized?