Intercity train operator TransPennine Express (TPE) is to deliver an investment of £1.4million in Hull Paragon, transforming the experience customers have of the 
station through new waiting facilities and toilets, an enhanced booking office, new customer information boards and additional retail outlets. The project will also create around 20 permanent new jobs in the city.
These works will be completed in advance of the start of Hull UK City of Culture on 01 January 2017, providing visitors to the city with a positive first and lasting impression of the city, through an enhanced range of services and facilities that customers expect to find at stations in cities across the country.
TPE has worked closely with Hull City Council to develop the proposals and last week submitted an application for Listed Building Consent seeking the approvals required to commence the programme of works. If approved, the investment work will commence early this summer with all works completed by the end of November 2016.
The new waiting facilities will provide customers with a modern and comfortable waiting environment, while the booking office will become much more open and accessible. The new arrivals and departures board will radically improve the level of customer information provided.
The additional enhanced retail units will provide an opportunity to attract new facilities and brands into the station and Hull. The company has already begun asking retailers to come forward with expressions of interest to use these new units.
David Hatfield, TPE Station Manager for North Humber & North Yorkshire: “In 2017 Hull will welcome the world for a yearlong celebration of culture and we have to ensure the station is ready to welcome the many visitors who will make journeys to Hull to experience different events over the course of next year.
“This investment will transform Hull station with an enhanced station environment, comfortable waiting facilities and a proper arrivals and departures board replacing the existing television monitors. By completing the work this year we will provide customers with a positive first and last impression of Hull, ensuring TransPennine Express does its part in helping to secure the legacy to Hull from the City of Culture events.”
Media contact:
Sarah Cunningham, Media Relations Manager, TransPennine Express
[email protected]
0161 228 8475
Notes to Editors:
TransPennine Express is an intercity rail provider with a vision to Take the North Further. We will deliver an investment of over £500m in the next seven years that will transform travel and customer experience across the North and into Scotland. By 2020 we will have introduced 220 brand new state of the art carriages, will provide new routes and services and will increase capacity by over 80 per cent on a seven day a weekend timetable.
TransPennine Express is proud to be a FirstGroup plc company, which provides solutions for an increasingly congested world… keeping people moving and communities prospering.