THE waiting room at Basingstoke railway station is set to be improved as part of South Western Railway’s (SWR) plan to upgrade 10 stations across its network.

The Basingstoke station will see its waiting room upgraded with new features including modern workstations with plug and USB sockets and wireless phone chargers. 

Besides Basingstoke, waiting rooms at Brockenhurst, Brookwood, Byfleet & New Haw, Earley, Farnham, Horsley, Southampton Central, Sunningdale, and Totton stations will also see more than £400,000 invested to provide customers with better places to relax and work while they wait for their trains.

The waiting rooms' appearances will be refreshed with new decorations on walls and ceilings, along with new flooring, while new seating and improved heating will make them more comfortable.

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In line with its “sustainability strategy to be better for its people, places, and the planet”, stations will be made greener and more accessible, with new environmentally friendly LED lighting where not already installed, more priority seating space and lower-level workstations for customers who use wheelchairs. 

SWR said its aim is to deliver a modern and enhanced customer experience.

Customers will be able to work remotely more easily and be more productive while on the move, as SWR said it is responding to changing working patterns since the pandemic, with more people working remotely.  

The railways will also add new noticeboards in some of the waiting rooms for local people to use, creating an additional shared resource for station community organisations, such as Community Rail Partnerships and station adoption groups.

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Customer and commercial director for South Western Railway, Peter Williams said: “SWR is committed to providing a modern, sustainable, and accessible railway for all our customers, helping them to make the most of their time, wherever they are on our network.  

“That’s why we are delighted to be making these significant investments as part of our ongoing effort to enhance the customer experience at our stations.” 

SWR said the waiting room upgrades are one aspect of a wider programme of improvements to stations across its network, which will “enhance the customer experience” and provide a more “modern and accessible” railway for all customers.