Time for action on Malton rail station

The scheme will involve the setting up of a Friends of Malton Station Society, which will be responsible for keeping it spick and span.

Meanwhile, a team of volunteers is to be recruited to make a start on making the station more presentable.

Civic leaders have welcomed the move which they hope will encourage visitors to return to the town.

The plans come in the wake of a transport report which says North Yorkshire County Council is to consider making improvements to the town, in 2006.

Norton Mayor Keith Mennell said he, like many others in the area, was keen to see something done now.

"The station is often the first impression people get of the town and it's important it's a good one," he said. "It is in a bit of a state at the moment because the land to the south of the platform is overgrown and untidy.

"Once you get outside the station there is nothing to indicate which way you should go to get to either Malton or Norton."

Donna Lees, from the Malton and Norton market towns initiative, said that one important consideration was that the railway station was the gateway to the Wolds and the North York Moors.

"If you are travelling from the south or from the west, Malton is the station you would travel to if you decided to visit this part of North Yorkshire," she said.

"Admittedly the station is in a poor, drab condition at the moment and something needs to be done."

She said plans were afoot to get together some young people in the early part of next year and clean up the whole area around the station.

"We have been in talks with the Tourist Information Centre with a view to getting an information board on the platform," she said.

"That way people will be able to see what is going on in the town and the rest of Ryedale."

If you are interested in joining a Friends of Malton Railway Station Society, contact Donna Lees on 01653 600666, ext. 228.

Updated: 09:37 Wednesday, November 21, 2001