SOUTH Western Railway (SWR) is celebrating a landmark milestone as more than 100 of its stations have now been adopted by local community volunteers.

Station adopters are groups of volunteers who work with SWR on making the most out of their station spaces and environments and take a lead on imagining new and creative ways for their stations to better serve their communities and strengthening their place within their local area.

Woking station has been adopted by the Lightbox and Linkable, with West Byfleet and Brookwood being taken over by a community gardening group.

Station adoption at SWR began with the formal adoption by the friends of Christchurch station in Dorset in 2007. SWR stations have now been adopted in nine counties: Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, London, Hampshire, Somerset, Surrey, Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight.

Peter Williams, customer and commercial director of SWR, said: “The bond between SWR and the communities we serve is of great importance to us and our fantastic station adopters have been vitally important in cultivating and deepening that relationship. 

“Our station adopters are an integral part of the wider railway family, and it has been wonderful to see the many creative ways that they have contributed to local communities across the network as the number of adoption groups has expanded.”