Hunmanby Railway Station wins National Award

The Friends of Hunmanby Railway Station have won an award at the national community rail awards.

The Friends of Hunmanby Railway Station won the small projects award (under £500) for their role in the launch of a new hourly train service in May 2019 and for finding ways of making the station a community asset.

This year passenger journeys through Hunmanby increased from 22,704 to 32,458, a rise of 43%. During the pandemic the station, which had been revamped with a 200 feet long border and artwork from the village school, had become a place of sanctuary because it was so peaceful.

Hunmanby Station was due to receive a greatly enhanced train service from May 2019, with hourly ‘Turbo Star’ trains complemented by improved facilities at the station, including ticket machines, real-time information boards, waiting shelters, and CCTV. The challenge the station friends group faced was how to attract more passengers to the station,which has no parking facilities and is a 15-minute walk away from the village. The group decided to engage the community to ascertain their views and gain support in raising awareness of the revamped station and timetable.

The group decided to focus on improving the passenger experience by making Hunmanby a community station and a true gateway to the village. They learnt that people were put off travelling by the “gloomy” appearances of the platforms, so set about transforming them with home grown plants, flower borders, and artwork created by local school children, making the site feel safer and more attractive. A key part of the project was working in partnership to strengthen relationships with the village’s residents, community organisations, and local businesses, and the friends group designed a website to promote local attractions alongside the new train service. They also worked with a local social enterprise and adult education charity to produce an easy-to-read train timetable and local events guide, containing the details of a host of village groups. More than 20 volunteers then helped to deliver 3,000 of the timetables to Hunmanby and its surrounding villages, highlighting the station upgrades and the new train services.

Filey MP Kevin Hollinrake said he is delighted that the National Community Rail Award has been won by Friends of Hunmanby Railway Station and that it is thoroughly well deserved

Mr Hollinrake said

“This is a great example of a community coming together. It was a tremendous local effort involving representatives from the rail Industry, voluntary groups, local traders and local councillors. It is a tribute to everyone who helped bring Hunmanby and other stations like Filey and Bempton the best train service in their history”.

In 2019 Mr Hollinrake worked with local residents led by the Friends of Hunmanby Station, North Yorkshire County Council and Northern Rail to ensure that there were more regular and convenient hourly trains from Filey and Hunmanby to Scarborough and Hull. As a result of the community effort Hunmanby went from 9 weekday trains, often at inconvenient times to 15 trains daily from Monday to Saturday and, on a Sunday, the train service doubled.

Scarborough Borough and Hunmanby Parish Councillor Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff said

“As a local Councilllor it has been a pleasure to support the fantastic work of the Friends of Hunmanby Station. This award is well deserved recognition for years of work to protect, promote and improve our local rail links. I am particularly pleased that the way Hunmanby pulled together during the pandemic was a factor in the win.”

The award also recognised the work involved in designing a free website with input from the whole village and a village timetable and event guide which was delivered from door to door. The judges praised the project for managing to adapt the project to the challenge of Covid 19, by offering advice and support on keeping local residents safe.