CAMPAIGNERS who have been demanding step-free access to Chippenham train station have been enjoying the fruits of their labour this afternoon (Fri 22).

The newly opened £3m project, mostly funded through the Department for Transport’s ‘Access for All’ scheme, features lifts on the platform and on the ticket office side of the station.

Campaigners and workers from the project gathered on the platform to see Chippenham MP Michelle Donelan cut the ribbon before the lift was available to be used for the first time.

Sue Houlihan, secretary of the Campaign for Access to Rail Travel (CART), said: “The lift was really exciting, a lot of us didn’t think it would ever happen.”

Campaign chair, Maureen Lloyd, 82, added: “I have been fighting for nearly 25 years for this and now my 25 year mission is complete.

“It has not been an easy time, we’ve had all sorts of obstacles along the way but I am over the moon, it’s a new beginning.”

Despite delight for campaigners this afternoon, the news was less good for rail passengers as the electrification of the Bristol to London line continues to be delayed.

Some routes are running four years behind schedule, Network Rail have said.

Route managing director at Network Rail, Mark Langman, said: “The Great Western Electrification is a really challenging project.

“We have got a new baseline plan now and we are really looking forward to getting into construction.

“It’s fairly obvious now when you travel between Chippenham and London that a lot of progress has been made and we are rapidly progressing towards Chippenham with the electrification.

“The new electric trains are being built as we speak, they will be introduced into service by mid-late 2017 they will be gradually introduced as the electrification moves from east to west and then we can start looking forward to a really modern railway, with more seats, its faster, greener and cleaner.”

Michelle Donelan MP, who uses the trains to travel between Westminster and Chippenham, described the new bridge as absolutely fantastic but said Chippenham would have to be patient for electric trains.

“We have to bear in the fact there’s so much going on across the country in terms of the rail agenda,” she added.

“It is going ahead, electrification should be here next year now. This is the biggest investment in our railway since the Victorian era, it’s a massive injection of cash in all different forms including getting this lift and bridge today."