Northern has extended the deadline for a £250,000 scheme launched last month to 'enhance accessibility and improve train travel' across Cumbria and the north.

Applications will now be taken up until Tuesday, January 3.

The £250,000 programme will be awarded across a number of categories with one project receiving £100,000, several schemes receiving £50,000 and other proposals each receiving a maximum of £10,000. 

Mark Powles, customer and commercial director at Northern said: “I am delighted that for the second year running we have been able to provide a quarter of a million pounds to our Accessibility Innovation Scheme, which will consider a wide range of proposals involving our trains and stations and will have a positive impact for the north.” 

Ideas for the 2023 scheme could include innovations that make train travel simpler and easier, raise awareness of rail services or encourage people to travel for the first time by train.

For bids to be considered, the proposed project must be scheduled for completion by December 31, 2023, be fully costed and appropriately researched.

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