The new passenger shelter at Sudbury Hill Harrow


This may look like an unremarkable platform shelter but to rail passengers at Sudbury Hill Harrow station, it is a gleaming new trophy – and was the result of passenger power.

For years, passengers at Sudbury Hill were fed up with the station's grim, run-down and unlit shelters with their leaking roofs, which were a magnet for anti-social people rather than passengers. 

Finally their representations to Chiltern Railways bore fruit. Builders moved in just before New Year, and the old shelters were transformed into attractive, well-lit waiting rooms complete with smart new roofs.

Campaigner Graham Larkbey said: ”The new shelters look fantastic. It just goes to show that rail companies do sometimes listen to what their customers tell them, and that if you keep up the pressure you may get a result. 

“Now we just want Chiltern to improve the station's train service to match the new facilities – starting with a service at weekends.” 

Sudbury Hill Harrow is on Chiltern Railways' line from London Marylebone to West Ruislip, High Wycombe and Birmingham. 

For decades it was served only by rush-hour trains, until concerted pressure from London Travelwatch persuaded Chiltern to provide an all-day Monday-Friday service from 2004. 

However, it still has no trains after 21.15 – and none at all at weekends!