Nick Weise, who runs the university’s commuter peer mentoring scheme, says about a quarter of the student population are commuters.
The new lounge, which opened at the end of 2024, has been designed as a “home away from home”, he says.
“Some of the feedback we got was that commuters would have to arrive maybe an hour early, in case there was traffic or delays.
“If their first lecture was at 09:00, they were arriving at 08:00, and they had nowhere to be. They were just wandering the streets.
“So now we have that commuter lounge open from 08:00 where they can come, just have a little rest, a little place to land and recharge, store their food.”
With some students taking multiple buses and trains to get to university every day, from as far as Morecambe or Derby, he says it’s important commuters have a place they can be between lectures.
For Amelka, it is “one of the best things to happen” at the university.