PASSENGER safety at a North Yorkshire railway station has been boosted following a £130,000 revamp.

A pedestrian crossing over the tracks at South Milford station has been closed as part of a series of measures by Network Rail.

Phil Graham, the company's level crossing risk specialist, said the improvements included the installation of new lighting on the approach to the station and in an underpass below the tracks, the re-paving of the access road and creation of new disabled parking bays closer to the station entrance.

He said passengers now had to use the underpass to get from one platform to another and anyone who tried jumping down from a platform and running across the tracks to get to the other platform would risk a fine as well as their lives.

He revealed that while no one had been killed or injured by a train while crossing the tracks, there had been a number of near misses.

The station, situated on the Selby to Leeds line, served passengers from Sherburn in Elmet as well as South Milford.

Mr Graham, who has been on the railway for over forty years, said this was his last project before he retires next month after more than 40 years on the railways. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony, he was thanked for all his work by Reg French, secretary of the Selby and District Rail Users’ Group.