Parish councillor hits out at 'lack of progress' on Cookham Station changes

Changes made to Cookham Station have been criticised by the parish council chairman for taking ‘far too long to sort out’.

Andrew Nye said the village’s representatives are keeping in regular contact with Great Western Railway about the improvements.

The ticket office has been closed since the summer for refurbishment but the Advertiser has not been given information about when it is due to reopen.

“The station has been closed for far too long and commuters and residents have suffered in the meantime,” he said.

“There has been limited ability to buy tickets, no waiting room and no toilets.”

He added: “We’ve been monitoring progress, or lack of it, in reopening Cookham station with interest,” he said.

“This has taken far too long to sort out and we’d really like GWR to reopen the station as quickly as possible.

“For example, it took weeks for the temporary shelters to be delivered and then these sat unused as it then took a few weeks for them to be ‘installed’.

“Meanwhile autumn arrived, along with rain and high winds, making waiting at the station unpleasant for commuters and residents using GWR services.”

No timetable has been shown to the Advertiser about when the ticket office is due to reopen.

In September, an email seen by the Advertiser that was sent by GWR’s head of public affairs, Jane Jones, revealed the office had a dry rot problem.

Cllr Nye said: “We’ve written to GWR regularly and also raised our concerns about Cookham station, and GWR operations generally, through the MMPA (Marlow-Maidenhead Passengers’ Association) and with RBWM.

“We’ve tried to encourage them to move more quickly and also share any updates on progress with the parish council and residents.

“Generally we have had reasonably quick responses to our enquiries, but action has taken a lot longer to materialise.

“And we shouldn’t have to keep asking for updates.”

GWR has been contacted for comment.