RAILTRACK North West has given the go-ahead to a £340,000 re-fit at Garswood station.

The work, which is due to start in the autumn and will be finished by the end of the year, is part of a five-year, £1billion programme designed to smarten up all 2,500 stations throughout the country.

The station building and waiting room on the Wigan-bound platform are in a poor state of repair and only part of the building is used as a ticket office.

The rest of the building is unoccupied and there is no commercial interest in it. Railtrack therefore proposes to demolish the building and waiting room and replace them with a modern structure which will house a book hall, ticket office and staff facilities.

Following consultation with the parish council and Merseytravel, it has been decided to incorporate some of the original features of the old buildings in the new. The demolition of the buildings will also give Railtrack the opportunity to enhance car parking facilities.

The waiting room on the Liverpool-bound platform is in a reasonable state of repair so will be refurbished rather than demolished, whereas the footbridge will require extensive work. However, when finished, it will look much better.

Mike Cowman, Railtrack North West zone director, said: "We are spending a huge amount of money putting stations back into an acceptable condition for the travelling public.

"By the end of this financial year, every station in the country will have been refurbished and it will then be up to the train operators, passengers and local residents to make sure they stay that way so as to encourage more and more people to travel by public transport.