Rail representatives host ‘Meet the Manager’ event in Cambridgeshire village

Managers from Greater Anglia and East Midlands Railway and representatives from the Hereward Community Rail Partnership (CRP) are holding a ‘Meet the Manager’ event at Café No. 29 on Thursday, 21 September.

Everyone is welcome between 10am and 1pm to discuss general rail issues, ask questions about train services and the village’s Manea railway station, while sampling Café No. 29’s delicious homemade bakes!

Cllr Chris Seaton, Fenland District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Transport and Chairman of the Hereward Community Rail Partnership, said: “The CRP and local railway managers have held quite a few coffee mornings and ‘Meet the Manager’ events now and they’re always popular and well received by everyone who attends.

“They’re a great opportunity to find out more about our Hereward Line, local rail services, and the fantastic benefits of rail travel.

"This event will also be a good opportunity to find out more about the new, free car park at Manea railway station which means the station can now be used by people from a much wider area.

“Before the station had a car park it wasn’t feasible to promote use of it beyond those few people who could easily walk to it or get there by other connecting public transport. Now people who have previously driven to March, Ely or even Peterborough before catching the train can now make a more local trip to Manea – park for free – and board the train there.”

The car park, which opened last month, is intended to be big enough to serve the station and area as it grows over coming decades. It includes 100 parking spaces, disabled bays, a cycle shelter, CCTV, and low energy lighting.

The car park is part of a raft of improvements for Fenland stations being delivered through Fenland District Council’s Railway Station Masterplans scheme, funded by £9.5million from the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority, with support from Greater Anglia.

The Masterplans are delivering improvements to passenger facilities at the three Fenland stations – Manea, March and Whittlesea – along the Ely to Peterborough Hereward Line, to improve connections between the Fenland towns and other regional centres of education and employment, creating an attractive alternative to the car for more sustainable journeys.

The Hereward CRP, which is managed by Fenland District Council in partnership with train operators, railway user groups, station adoption groups and local residents who help look after the Hereward Line, has now launched a survey to find out people’s views about the new station car park.

It can be completed during the ‘Meet the Manager’ event or online at: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/ManeaStationSurvey

Martin Moran, Greater Anglia’s Commercial and Customer Service Director, said Greater Anglia was looking forward to holding its first ‘Meet the Manager’ event in Manea.

“It’s really important to us to hear from passengers about what matters to them and answer any questions they may have,” he said.

“We are keen to listen and to understand people’s experiences so that we can work to continually improve our service and meet customers’ expectations and needs.”

The ‘Meet the Manager’ event is being held at Café No.29 in High Street, Manea, from 10am to 1pm on Thursday, 21 September. Everyone welcome.