Wednesday 25 June 2025 saw representatives of the National Railway Heritage Awards, the Railway Heritage Trust, the contractors Colt Construction Ltd, Network Rail, East Midlands Railway and Market Rasen Station Adopters gather to witness the official unveiling of the NRHA plaque to reward work undertaken on the platform shelter at the station.
The Railway Heritage Trust Award, which was announced at a ceremony held in London in early December 2024, was made to the project for the excellent work, part of which was funded by the trust, to restore the shelter.
The featured structure forms a later part of the main operational environment on the station, which was originally opened by the Manchester, Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway in 1848. When initially constructed, the station had an overall roof; this was removed during World War 2 and the shelter now provides much needed accommodation on the open platform.
Having been subject to a redecoration project some years ago the shelter was in dire need of restoration. The project was delivered by Colt Construction Ltd and included works to the external structure, windows and interior. Other key players in this project alongside the contractors were Network Rail (which funded the majority of the work), station operators East Midlands Railway and importantly the Market Rasen Station Adopters, who work tirelessly to maintain the station environment. The Railway Heritage Trust provided a grant of £18,000 to support the restoration works.
The unveiling was undertaken on a very warm and sunny day by Andy Savage, Chairman of the NRHA, accompanied by Tim Hedley-Jones, Executive Director RHT.
Before unveiling the plaque, Andy Savage spoke about the importance of the competition in recognising the work carried out over many schemes of varying sizes. He recognised the value to the Awards of the sponsors, without which the NRHA would not be able to function.
He also spoke about the importance of the quality of work and recognised the care and effort taken by the contractors to ensure that the shelter was of high quality and appropriate to the historic fabric of the station. He recognised the Market Rasen Station Adopters for the immense support and value which they bring to their local stations and commended them for their continuing work.
The plaque being unveiled with, on the left, Tim Hedley-Jones, Director of the Railway Heritage Trust (sponsors of the award), and, on the right, Andy Savage, Chairman of the National Railway Heritage Awards.
The restored waiting room at Market Rasen – the winner of the Railway Heritage Trust Award, made to a project that received funding from the trust, at the 2024 National Railway Heritage Awards.