PLANS for Earlestown station have been unveiled as one of the oldest railway stations in the world is set to see improvements.

The historic railway station will receive new features and improvements as part of the regeneration of the town centre.

Earlestown recently secured a £20m fund from the Government’s Levelling Up fund, boosting the town centre’s developments.

READ > Levelling Up success: What this will mean for Earlestown

Key features including the iconic Earlestown Town Hall and the historic Market Square will be restored and redeveloped, along with the railway station.

The plans will see full lift access installed at the station, the triangle area cleared and transformed into a community parkland, potentially with allotments and open space, and the old station building brought back into use as a café and waiting room, as well as a heritage room similar to other stations.

St Helens Star: The 'triangle' area of the station will convert into a community parklandThe 'triangle' area of the station will convert into a community parkland (Image: St Helens Borough Council)

Newton-le-Willows East Councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron MBE, said: "As in St Helens and Earlestown, this Levelling Up Fund money is one of a number of funding streams we are accessing to regenerate both town centres.

"For Earlestown, as one of only two stations in the UK built on a triangle, accessibility has always been an issue for both train users and people coming into Earlestown from Wargrave.

"That should help boost visitor numbers and shoppers into the town centre, combined with the Town Centre plans too.

"This levelling up funding, along with the current Access for All bid, will transform the station with lift access in order to make it fully accessible.

"Earlestown is currently the most used station on the Liverpool Manchester line without any disabled access, and it’s been a long battle to fix that, but we are finally here.

St Helens Star: Members from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy were given a tour of the station by councillorsMembers from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy were given a tour of the station by councillors (Image: Seve Gomez-Aspron)

"Likewise, the historic waiting room, last used in 1980, will provide a welcome warm refuge for station users in the LUF plans to bring it back into full use.

"Finally, the landscaping between the platforms in the ‘triangle’ will open up that space to all sorts of more welcoming community use, as a welcoming green space.

"Further details and planning applications will be submitted in the near future, but this is a massive success for our local Labour team in Earlestown who have campaigned for this for years."