Bristol Parkway station - facilities, services, events and incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[Lee]

See link below.
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&contentPK=16623721&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144922

Further quotes :

"First Great Western is contributing ^100,000 towards the improved facilities."

"There are also plans to increase the number of suburban services using Parkway, which is also good news for passengers."

"Car parking at Parkway is also set to be increased by about 300 to 400 spaces, which is a boost for commuters who use it as a park-and-ride."

[Lee]

An investigation into what should be done about a "death-trap" bridge near Bristol Parkway Station and Filton High School has been welcomed by community leaders (link below.)
http://thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=145365&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145191&contentPK=18493066&folderPk=83726&pNodeId=144922

Plans to invest ^25,000 on commissioning engineers to look for the best solution to the problem were revealed by South Gloucestershire Council earlier this month.

Options include digging a tunnel under the railway embankment to create a pedestrian subway at a cost of ^1.5 million. This would segregate pedestrians from traffic heading between the station and nearby offices.

The railway bridge , which crosses New Road , is used by children at Filton High School , as well as being a major commuter route for people working at the Ministry of Defence , Hewlett Packard , Axa Sun Life and Sainsbury's.

The road is very busy when children arrive and leave school and the narrow pavements leave little room for pedestrians to pass each other.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Police have cautioned a man who claimed he was carrying a gun on a train as it passed through Bristol.

Parkway Station was closed for an hour while armed officers dealt with the incident on Friday afternoon, disrupting trains travelling to and from London and South Wales.

British Transport Police said the man had subsequently apologised for the flippant comment made to train staff.

The man also showed off a large amount of cash to staff, police said.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Bristol Evening Post:

Bristol train station evacuated after gun joke

Bristol Parkway Station was evacuated by armed police in a security alert sparked when a passenger on a train joked that he was carrying a gun.

The incident happened ... on a London to Cardiff train and involved a 41-year-old man heading to Bristol with more than ^8,000 in cash to buy a car.

The train was in the Didcot area when the man made his way to the buffet car to buy refreshments, police said.

A member of staff at the buffet noticed his wallet was stuffed full of ^50 notes and when she remarked on it he told her he was also carrying a gun.

The woman then alerted British Transport Police, who closed Bristol Parkway Station for about an hour.

Armed police and a helicopter unit from Avon and Somerset also attended and the man was arrested and later cautioned.

Transport police spokesman Brian Price said: "A 41-year-old man was arrested at Bristol Parkway Station on suspicion of money laundering on Friday, September 11. He has since been released without charge. The man sparked a security alert on board the 10.15am London Paddington to Cardiff service after he indicated to a member of train staff that he was in possession of a firearm. He was also carrying a large quantity of cash, which also aroused suspicions. Police were alerted at 11.02am and officers from BTP^▸ (British Transport Police), assisted by armed officers from Avon and Somerset police, detained the man when the train arrived at Parkway shortly after midday. The station was closed for a short period of time."

Sergeant Mark Harris said: "The man was arrested on suspicion of money laundering but when interviewed it emerged he was legitimately carrying more than ^8,000 to buy a car in the Bristol area and no weapons were found. He apologised for making a flippant comment, which led to armed police clearing the station. He was cautioned for a railway by-law offence for interfering with the comfort of fellow passengers."

[JayMac]

I hope FGW^▸ (First Great Western) take out a private prosecution against this muppet to try and get some recompence for the costs they would've incurred.

[moonrakerz]

Amazing isn't it ? You can now get arrested on suspicion of "money laundering" if you have a few quid in your wallet ! I'd better watch out next time I go to the cash machine to get money to pay for a train ticket.

As the man stated he was carrying a gun I would have thought there was another Law, somewhat more relevant, to arrest him.

[Rogang]

And spare a thought for the customer host - she had to remain calm having been told the idiot had a gun. I was on duty that morning, and i understand that the CH was a credit to the Company in her actions.

[inspector_blakey]

I'm amazed, given the amount of seriously draconian railway legislation that's enshrined in law, that they couldn't find anything more serious to stick on this guy than a bylaw offence.

Is my memory playing tricks on me, or was there a vaguely similar incident at Parkway a few years ago that actually did involve a gun? From what I recall when a conductor was examining tickets one passenger just opened his jacket slightly to reveal a gun and said "this is my ticket". Once again the staff response was superb: the conductor was incredibly calm and clear headed and had police meet the train at Parkway (or was it Swindon...?) where the offending individual was arrested with no harm done.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Well, there have certainly been previous incidents of a similar nature:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1200.msg6225#msg6225

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=1409.msg8183#msg8183

 

[Oberon]

Yesterday saw the opening of the new multi-deck car park at Bristol Parkway. It cost ^13 million and provides an extra 710 spaces. The mind boggles at the cost of this, surely Network Rail could find a way of doing relatively simple things like building car parking spaces in a cheaper fashion?

[John R]

Gosh, that is a lot when you put it like that.

If NR^» (Network Rail - home page) wanted to get a 12% return on its investment then it would need per space to recover ^6 per day, 365 days a year just to cover the return, let alone repay the initial debt.  Which given the daily rate is 7.60 and 4.80 at weekends seems a bit unlikely as it would require 88% occupancy including weekends. 

[Red Squirrel]

By my arithmetic, that's about ^18,310 per space.

By way of comparison, Waitrose at Westbury Park have recently demolished an adjoining filling station and are in the process of extending their car park to give 27 extra spaces (BCC^» (Bristol City Council - about) ref 13/05166/F). If you include the cost of acquiring the site and demolishing and redeveloping it, it is inconceivable that this project cost less than ^494,000 (27 x ^18,310) - I'm guessing it'll have cost more than twice that.

Sounds to me like ^13 million is a bit of a bargain...

[simonw]

Since the recent work, electrification and Filton Bank, the quality of service between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol  Parkway has not improved.

At what point will this service become reliable, with scheduled services and no 10 minutes outside Parkway, waiting for a late London bound train?

Just heard that Bristol Parkway access on on Christmas Eve is by Hunts Ground Road, the Hatchett Road access is not available.

Not sure why.

[Phantom]

Since the recent work, electrification and Filton Bank, the quality of service between Bristol Temple Meads and Bristol  Parkway has not improved.

At what point will this service become reliable, with scheduled services and no 10 minutes outside Parkway, waiting for a late London bound train?

Just heard that Bristol Parkway access on on Christmas Eve is by Hunts Ground Road, the Hatchett Road access is not available.

Not sure why.

Would agree nothing seems to have changed yet.

The access to Parkway is being closed due to new signalling being installed at Stoke Gifford

[TonyK]

Hopefully, you will see some of the benefits after the resignalling is finished, 12 May or so. More will come with the new timetable, put off after last year's fiasco.