The East Suffolk Lines Community Rail Partnership (CRP) recently embarked on a project to transform old railway sleepers into raised beds for the garden at Westerfield Station. Thalia Rushmore, East Suffolk Lines CRP Officer, tells us more about the project.

“Last summer, the ladies of Westerfield Station had remarked on how it would be lovely to get some sleepers to make raised beds on one of their platforms. The platform was just broken up concrete and bits of shrubbery, so we were limited with what we could do with it. Having been told you can’t just ‘take’ the sleepers that are dotted around, the mission started!

“I managed to locate some redundant sleepers we could use (old and not soaked in creosote) by the tracks near Woodbridge. I applied to Network Rail to request the release of the sleepers – you have to be very specific in your application about where the sleepers are located, where their intended destination is, who will be collecting them, and who will use them, etc.

“Network Rail agreed we could have the sleepers, and Alan Neville, Customer and Community Engagement Manager at Greater Anglia, put me in touch with James and Darren from RailScape, who put a plan in place to cut and move them. The RailScape team cut the sleepers into 6ft lengths, transported them to Westerfield Station and put them in place on the platform.

“Within a week of arriving at Westerfield Station, the sleepers had been turned into wonderful planters – it was a fantastic team effort between the CRP, Westerfield Station Adopters, Network Rail, Greater Anglia and RailScape.”

Keep up to date with future news, projects, and events from East Suffolk Lines CRP via their website.