Charcon helps station stay on track

Charcon, the commercial hard landscaping division of Aggregate Industries, has supplied Leighton Buzzard Railway with 800m2 of block paving, helping the heritage railway stay on track to open its brand new station building this month.

With a local manufacturing facility within a quarter of a mile, Charcon was approached by the railway who, after a long and hard battle to fund the much-needed new station building, were looking for help from local construction and materials suppliers.

Located at their main terminal, Page’s Park, the new station building is a modern re-working of a typical London and North-Western Railway building. Charcon supplied 800m2 of Europa block paving for the local project in a warm red hue, complementing the white station building and providing a highly attractive landscaped frontage and surrounding pathway.

Mike Davies, Category Manager at Charcon, said: “We were delighted to help Leighton Buzzard Railway with the hard landscaping for their new station building. Aesthetically it looks great but as a tough, hard-wearing block, Europa will also be perfect for the visitor traffic. Given the railway used to transport sand from the many local quarries for much of the 19th century, we had much in common already!”

Tony Tomkins, Planning Officer at Leighton Buzzard Railway said; “We are thrilled with the completed hard landscaping around our new station building. The red hue of the blocks complements perfectly the traditional style station building, resulting in an attractive, premium finish, which will certainly stand the test of time.”

Leighton Buzzard Railway is one of the last survivors of the hundreds of two-foot (610mm) gauge light railways built in Britain for industrial use and will be 100 years old in 2019. The new station building, which will be entered into the National Railway Heritage Awards in 2017, opened on 29th October 2016.

Europa block paving is suitable for all pedestrianised areas, shopping precincts, HGV loading areas, docks and container loading bays, access roads and airports as well as farm and stable areas. A tough, hard-wearing block capable of handling heavy-use trafficking, Europa offers a high level of durability and good grip. It can be easily lifted to access services, has a wide range of shades including three mixed colours for aesthetic appeal and comes in a number of variations to help meet specifications such as pencil edge and coloured coatings.