Community Rail Awards 2025 now open for Entries! Click here to read more.

Most Enhanced Railway Spaces – sponsored by Greater Anglia

This category recognises the work of community rail or other community organisations to revitalise railway buildings and larger areas of railway land.  Any space which has either been brought back to useful life or significantly improved is eligible.

We are looking for initiatives that have enhanced, rejuvenated, or repurposed a railway space and brought it back into the heart of the community, to provide new value for passengers and/or wider communities.

This is not a heritage restoration award - many projects may involve restoration work to improve the appearance and celebrate the heritage of spaces, but many revitalisations are in non-heritage locations or are land re-use projects. Judges are looking for projects that have engaged the local community effectively, demonstrated social value, and have sound plans for how the space will deliver ongoing community benefits.

Note: This award is not primarily concerned with attracting new passengers to the railway, but rather making use of disused railway assets for wider community benefit. Small gardens, and flowerbeds won’t be considered in this category, these should be submitted within an entry to ‘It’s Your Station’ or ‘Small Projects Award’ and art/creative projects should be submitted in the ‘Community Creative Projects & Station Arts’ category.

We invite entries from community rail partnerships, station-based groups, station adoption or friends’ groups, or other community organisations and representatives. Rail industry partners can submit entries where a project was undertaken in partnership with a community rail partnership or community group, but the entry must clearly demonstrate this partnership working, be agreed with the community partner(s), and their contact details provided.

This award is for organisations which have leased/licensed/purchased railway buildings or land to deliver their community project, with a legal right of occupation/access.

  • Repurposing a railway space – we can see how station building(s), platforms, shelters, facilities, or railway land have been rejuvenated or repurposed, in whole or in part, to provide community benefit
  • Sensitive approach to rejuvenation/refurbishment – sympathetic to station heritage if appropriate, or to the new community use where non-heritage assets have been developed.
  • Clear benefits to users – evidence the project has achieved has benefited and is appreciated by its target audience/clientele
  • Building positive links with the community – the space has been brought more into the heart of the community and delivers benefits to local people e.g. through local volunteering, community events, communications, outreach, and/or new people using station buildings
  • Great partnership working – we can see how collaboration with the rail industry and others has helped to deliver improvements and overcome challenges, or bring in wider expertise, involvement and ideas.
  • A well-considered plan for how the space is intended to deliver ongoing social benefits
  • Judges will highly favour entries that provide clear evidence of the impact of the project, gathered via pre-planned evaluation

Essential requirements: Before and after images or other evidence clearly showing the change(s) made must be submitted as part of your supporting evidence, along with any other evidence showing how the project was developed and delivered. Details of the ongoing use for the building/land must be included, along with clear demonstrable evidence of the impact of the project.

'Most Enhanced Railway Spaces' is sponsored by Greater Anglia.

Greater Anglia is proud to sponsor the “Most Enhanced Railway Spaces” category at the 2026 Community Rail Awards. We’re passionate about the role our railways play in the local community and ensuring we maximise our positive impact across the region we serve. We continue to work closely with our Community Rail Partnerships and station adopters to provide a thriving train service which meets local needs, with high quality new trains complimented by lovely stations, and a railway that’s fully focused on the people and places who depend upon it.

2025 Winner - Severnside CRP for 'Mike Hodge Community Room at Bridgwater Station'

Bridgwater Station is a beautiful Grade II listed building which had redundant and boarded-up rooms calling out for regeneration. Severnside CRP had a vision of breathing new life into the station, creating a warm, inviting and accessible space whether people in the community could gather, hold meetings and host small-scale events.

After conducting building surveys, gathering feedback from the community and securing funding from Great Western RailwayRailway Heritage Trust and Somerset Community Foundation, local contractors were appointed to undertake the renovations, including fitting bespoke doors and shutters sympathetic to the heritage of the station. The room was then equipped with furniture, Wi-Fi, video conferencing facilities and community artwork.

The Mike Hodge Community Room, named after a dedicated station volunteer (who is still going strong in his nineties!), was officially opened during Community Rail Week in May 2024. The space has already been used by local groups for meetings and events, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback and repeat bookings. Upcoming uses include NHS vaccination clinics and a Crimestoppers drama project for vulnerable youth. Severnside CRP envisions further regeneration of Bridgwater Station, including the potential reopening of a café as a social enterprise, and strengthening ties with the local college.

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2024 1st Place Winner - Bricket Wood Station Heritage Trust for ‘Restoration of Bricket Wood Station’

As the sole remaining ‘steam age’ structure on the Watford to St Albans Abbey branch line, the Bricket Wood Station Heritage Trust recognised that the station building was in much need of restoration. The Trust had a vision to not only restore the fabric of the building, but to also breathe new life into the station and create a space that could be used by the local community, in turn encouraging more people to visit the area by train and stimulate greater social inclusion and interaction.

From the outset the project involved a wide range of stakeholders, including the local parish and district councils, West Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway, Railway Heritage Trust, Network Rail, and local residents’ associations. Seed funding enabled the Trust to be set up as a membership charity, plans to be drawn up by a local architect, and planning permissions to be sought.

The restoration ran between May 2022 and August 2023. The station opened to the public, one of its key features being an Edwardian style tearoom, open from Wednesday to Saturday and operated on behalf of the Trust by a local businesswoman – opening day attracted over 200 people alone. Outside of the team room, the building is available for community hire, and includes a room for the storage of the village archive, with regular weekly drop-in study sessions now being run by the local history society. The hard work and dedication of the Bricket Wood Station Heritage Trust has quickly established the station as a desirable place to meet and get involved with community activity.

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Check out previous 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners of this category from 2017-2022.

The submission window for our 2026 Awards will be open from Monday 1 September - Tuesday 30 September 2025.

Check back then for the link to submit your entry!