Hackbridge station is to get a £350,000 facelift after a successful bid to the Department for Transport.

Sutton Council has worked closely with Southern Railway to bid for more than £325,000 of government funding, which will make the station more accessible for passengers, especially older and disabled people and those with pushchairs or luggage.

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The works will include a new step-free path from London Road to platform two, an accessible toilet, an adjustable ticket counter and automatic doors.

The improvements will help to support the council’s ambition for Hackbridge to become a flagship sustainable suburb.

John Drage, ward Councillor for Wandle Valley, said: “This is excellent news and shows what can be achieved by working in partnership. It is going to provide great benefit to those who currently struggle to access their local train station and will allow them to use public transport independently.”

Kirsty Monk, Southern’s Accessibility Manager, said: “We are delighted that our passengers who need ease of access and who use Hackbridge station will soon benefit from these much needed improvements. We thank Sutton Council for working with us to support our bid for funding.”

The funding is part of the £37.5m new national Department for Transport Mid Tier fund, which is part of the Access For All programme, that aims to make the train stations in the successful bids more accessible between now and 2014. Southern will contribute around £25,000 to the project, bringing the overall investment to £350,000.

Work is set to begin in 2012.