Accessible Changing Places toilet installed at popular TransPennine Express seaside station

The new Changing Places facility at Cleethorpes station is a larger accessible toilet and has equipment such as an adult-sized changing bench, a hoist, privacy screen and space for carers.  

The facilities will make the station and wider area more accessible and is located on the concourse.  

This will be the second Changing Places facility on the Cleethorpes sea front, with another already in place at Cleethorpes Leisure Centre.  

Andrew McClements, Customer Experience & Transformation Director at TransPennine Express, said: “We know that good quality public toilets are important to everyone, but for people with additional needs having specialised facilities is essential.  

“Changing Places toilets enable anyone to go to the shops, attend appointments, socialise, and travel – and of course enjoy the seaside here at Cleethorpes. 

"A quarter of TPE managed stations now have Changing Places toilets, including Stalybridge, Manchester Airport, Dewsbury and Middlesborough and we are proud to have these facilities available for our passengers.”   

The facility, which was opened by Melanie Onn MP, will make the station and wider area more accessible and is located on the concourse.  

She said: “I was delighted to open the new Changing Places facility at Cleethorpes railway station.

“For too long, too many people with profound and multiple disabilities have faced unnecessary barriers to travel, but this new, fully accessible toilet changes that.

“It’s a practical step that makes our community more welcoming, inclusive, and accessible – not just for residents, but for visitors too.”

The installation of the £150k facility has been funded by a grant from the Department for Transport’s Changing Places toilets fund managed by Muscular Dystrophy UK, and a contribution from the TransPennine Express Customer and Communities Improvement Schemes Fund. 

Andy Fletcher, CEO at Muscular Dystrophy UK, the leading charity for over 110,000 people in the UK living with one of over 60 muscle wasting and weakening conditions said: “We’re delighted that Trans Pennine Express will be opening a Changing Places toilet at Cleethorpes station. This will be a game-changer for commuters living with neuromuscular conditions and those living with other disabilities, their carers and families in need of such facility. 

“An estimated 250,000 people across the UK are in need of a Changing Places toilet. The new facility will allow people to have an accessible journey that otherwise may have been excluded. This is one of several new Changing Place toilets across the rail network and we hope this number will rise to make travelling easier across the whole network.” 

Full details of the locations of Changing Places facilities, and how to access them, can be found on the national website at www.changing-places.org/find.