Following a meeting with Richard Fearn, Midlands Railtrack Director, Michael Fabricant has been able to obtain a firm commitment to upgrade Lichfield Trent Valley Railway station. "This will benefit commuters and the economy of the City as more mainline trains will be able to stop at the station", says Mr Fabricant. "I have not been satisfied with the facilities offered at the station. The staff are always friendly and helpful, but operate under difficult conditions. Commuters waiting for south-bound trains have little protection from bad weather as only a ‘glass bus shelter’ is available. This has simply not been good enough.

"I have raised this with Railtrack and they have now been able to commit to a wide range of improvements. I understand that there are four main aspects to the station upgrade: a substantially improved ticket hall, proper platform waiting accommodation, expansion of the station car park, and lengthening of the platforms to accommodate the new Virgin West Coast tilting trains."

In an e-mail sent to Mr Fabricant today, Richard Fearn says: "I am pleased to announce that Central Trains will work with us to provide a new station building and ticket hall, Virgin will support additional waiting accommodation on the London bound platform, and all parties will support the much needed additional car parking. The platform extensions are part of our passenger upgrade scheme for the West Coast Main Line with Virgin."

All the work will be completed by the May 2002 deadline.