Great Western Coffee Shop

All across the Great Western territory => The Wider Picture in the United Kingdom => Topic started by: chuffed on September 06, 2016, 20:21:37



Title: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: chuffed on September 06, 2016, 20:21:37
Paddington - too many to list
Leeds - new south entrance
Birmingham New Street - Grand central, trams etc
Manchester Victoria - trams, new footbridge
Reading - flyover etc
Newcastle - clean bright welcoming
Hull Paragon ditto

I am sure there many others!

And the one in our area.... dingy, dank, depressing Temple Meads summed up by the temporary toilets ! I just hope this toilet upgrade is not just a flash in the pan for the rest of the developments planned to bring TM up to scratch.


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: Rapidash on September 07, 2016, 07:39:56
Plymouth got a shiny new entrance, I think.

Paignton, Torquay and Newton Abbot have all had refurbished footbridges/lifts as well as having new bogs installed.



Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: LiskeardRich on September 07, 2016, 08:19:07
Plymouth got a shiny new entrance, I think.

Paignton, Torquay and Newton Abbot have all had refurbished footbridges/lifts as well as having new bogs installed.



Plymouths new entrance was many years ago. Must be 15 years at least. Certainly as long as I can remember. It did have new lifts though.

I will look at the entrance though today, maybe I'm going through in autopilot and missed it


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: phile on September 07, 2016, 09:40:06
Swansea


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: Tim on September 07, 2016, 09:40:53
Temple Meads is being redone with the drop off area moving and the old station shed bought back into use with new platforms and obviously it will be electrified.  

There is/was a lot of preliminary work to be done including demolishing the parcel bridge (now down) and the signalling box (still to do), but within a few years it will have had lost done to it.

BTW, I don't think it is too bad at the moment.  





Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: simonw on September 07, 2016, 09:50:09
I beg to differ.

There is insufficient space in the booking hall, leading to too few gates to the platforms, and the area is always clogged up with people.

An alternative entrance/exit is desperately needed. The recent trial helped, but needs to be made permanent, although a major rebuild of the entrance area would greatly help.


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: plymothian on September 07, 2016, 10:04:45
Plymouth got a shiny new entrance, I think.

Paignton, Torquay and Newton Abbot have all had refurbished footbridges/lifts as well as having new bogs installed.



Plymouths new entrance was many years ago. Must be 15 years at least. Certainly as long as I can remember. It did have new lifts though.

I will look at the entrance though today, maybe I'm going through in autopilot and missed it

The concourse was extended slightly in the last few years to bring the doors out to line up with the edge of the roof, at the same time the subway was refurbished and new toilets installed on the concourse; then most recently the lifts were refurbished.

2011 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plymouth_station_entrance_2011.jpg)
Today (http://www.kaysway.org/images/prs/plymouthrailwaystationkayswayimages2011sam07658.jpg)


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: rower40 on September 07, 2016, 11:09:37
(Thanks to the "Blood & Custard" section of Modern Railways for this one...)

Norton Bridge.  Check out National Rail website's picture of the station at the link below.

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/NTB/details.html (http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/stations/NTB/details.html)


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: Tim on September 07, 2016, 13:26:31
I beg to differ.

There is insufficient space in the booking hall, leading to too few gates to the platforms, and the area is always clogged up with people.

An alternative entrance/exit is desperately needed. The recent trial helped, but needs to be made permanent, although a major rebuild of the entrance area would greatly help.

I don't disagree with any of that.  What I meant is that BRI doesn't "look too shabby". 


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: simonw on September 07, 2016, 13:45:11
I agree it is not too shabby, but is in major need of improvements,

  • Improved booking, arrival area
  • Multiple sets of gates to disperse passengers quickly. Two or three trains arriving in five minutes can release a lot of passengers!
  • Improved retail outlets, including a small food shop would be very useful
  • Improved rest areas needed, especially when waiting between connections


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: didcotdean on September 07, 2016, 14:24:11
There has been a recent application into some government fund towards a plan to spend £90M on a total rebuild of the current facilities at Didcot Parkway. The newspaper report is somewhat sketchy (http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14713877.Multi_million_pound_bid_for_Didcot__quot_gateway_quot__finally_goes_in/?ref=arc) but the concept of a three storey building with a transfer deck incorporating retail and cafes has been around for a while, as has opening an entrance on the north side of the lines.


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: Tim on September 07, 2016, 16:15:04
is a "science bridge" one that has been scientifically proven to stay up as opposed to an "arts bridge" - one that looks nice but will probably fall down. 


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: didcotdean on September 07, 2016, 16:27:53
All comes about from the 'Science Vale Enterprise Zone (http://www.southandvale.gov.uk/sciencevale/)' label put over the arc between Culham Science Centre, Harwell Campus and Milton Park. There is already significant peak congestion on the A4130 from the power station site to the A34 from Milton Park and Great Western Park, let alone from the plans for an additional 6000 houses or so (plus businesses).


Title: Re: Stations that have seen major investment/development...which one is missing ?
Post by: Noggin on September 07, 2016, 17:31:44
Temple Meads is being redone with the drop off area moving and the old station shed bought back into use with new platforms and obviously it will be electrified.  

There is/was a lot of preliminary work to be done including demolishing the parcel bridge (now down) and the signalling box (still to do), but within a few years it will have had lost done to it.

BTW, I don't think it is too bad at the moment.  

It doesn't look too shabby, mainly thanks to the Victorian architecture, but it's certainly a bit grubby and woefully inadequate as a gateway station for one of Britain's wealthiest cities and a major tourist destination. The underpass and ticket barriers get *very* congested at peak times.

Sure, the parcels bridge has been demolished, but I believe that the signalling box is going to have to stay for far longer than envisaged due to delays in the overall Bristol resignalling project, which will mean in turn that the old train shed won't be re-instated for a while yet. As far as I know, no formal plans have been submitted for redevelopment, so it's going to be a while yet.




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