THE £20.5 million Warrington West railway station in Chapelford has scooped a top award.

The site has received the north west’s transportation project of the year honour by the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CIHT).

The CIHT Awards celebrate innovation and excellence within highways and transportation and the benefits this brings to society.

The station – which was funded by Warrington Borough Council, the Department for Transport, developer contributions and Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership – opened in December last year.

Delivered by Balfour Beatty with the support of Network Rail who own and operate the railway, the facility is providing rail commuters with modern facilities and links to Liverpool and Manchester.

CIHT judges praised Warrington West for the quality of construction and the benefits it has brought to the town and the wider region.

The scheme has supported 12,000 jobs, benefited 2,000 homes and forms an important part of the council’s work to cut carbon emissions and reduce traffic congestion.

The CIHT award is the latest success for the project, which also won a coveted Institution of Civil Engineers’ north west large project award in April.

Cllr Hans Mundry, the council’s cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: “We want to ensure that sustainable transport is placed at the heart of our ongoing growth and development. The new Warrington West station is an important part of that vision.

“It has brought huge benefits to our borough, providing excellent links with Liverpool, Manchester, Warrington town centre and Birchwood and building on our strengths as a well-connected, business-friendly town.

“The new station – delivered on time and on budget – has been a huge success story for Warrington, and I’m delighted that this is, once again, being recognised at a regional level.”

Balfour Beatty area director Simon Barker said ‘we are incredibly proud’ after the station received the award and labelled it as a great achievement for the council and those involved.

Warrington West benefited from £4.2 million of the Department for Transport’s New Stations Funding and £6.5 million from the Local Growth Deal via the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership. The remainder of the funding came from the council and developer contributions.

Philip Cox, chief executive of the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The station project has been 20 years in development and provides much-needed connectivity to and from Manchester and Liverpool as well as sustainable access to the major employment site at Omega.”