THE government minister responsible for our railways stopped off at Swindon station last week to view ongoing work to improve disability access.

Paul Maynard MP was welcomed by North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson and Mark Hopwood, managing director of GWR which operates the station.

Swindon station is part of the ‘access for all’ project, which aims to improve accessibility for disabled people.

This includes disabled lifts to all platforms, disabled toilets and adequate disabled parking, which is being delivered with an increase in blue badge spaces at the station.

The visit also allowed the minister to learn about the changes made to the TransWilts line from Swindon to Salisbury - launched in 2013, it is one of the fastest growing lines in the country.

Justin said: “It was great to welcome the minister to Swindon station as he began his ride on the TransWilts train.

“As the former minister for disabled people, the issue of accessibility is an incredibly important one for me and it is great to see that Swindon station has this as an absolute priority.”

Mr Maynard added: “I was delighted to meet the fantastic team and see the great facilities at Swindon station.”

“It was also a pleasure to ride on the special TransWilts train today and see first-hand all the hard work which is going in to make this Community Rail Partnership successful.

“These railways are good for communities, increasing revenue, reducing costs, increasing community involvement and supporting social and economic development.

“Across the country there are about 3,200 rail volunteers who work 250,000 hours per year helping to improve stations and reduce vandalism.”