Bristol Temple Meads - station, facilities, incidents and events (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

Eastern Entrance reaches construction milestone with building shell complete

Building of a new £23m Eastern Entrance at Bristol Temple Meads station is moving forward at pace, with the entry building’s structure now complete.

The steel frame shell of the building has been fully installed, standing 6 metres high and 20 metres wide in the Cattle Market Road compound, with the top visible from platform 15.

The main structural steel frame was delivered to site at the end of March and was fitted together on site, with contractor BAM Nuttall working around Storm Kathleen to get the steelwork in place. The first stage of fitting out has begun, with the glazing and cladding to follow over the coming months. The building will be opened alongside the new University of Bristol Enterprise Campus in 2026.

Starting on site at the end of 2023, the entrance construction has included extending the subway by excavating through the retaining wall and underneath platforms 13 and 15, followed by drainage and foundations work.

The build of the new entrance is part of the Bristol Temple Quarter programme, one of the largest and most ambitious regeneration programmes in Europe, which aims to deliver thousands of new homes, jobs and opportunities for Bristol and the West of England.

The new entrance is one of three new entrances to the station funded by £94.7m of government funding secured by the Temple Quarter partners in 2022. It will connect Bristol Temple Meads to the new University of Bristol Enterprise Campus.

Daniel Round, Network Rail’s Industry Programme Director, said:

“Our forecasts show that by 2030 – only four years after opening – two and a half million people a year will be using this new entrance in and out of the station. That will make a real difference and really open up this part of the city to new rail passengers, as well as to our existing customers.”

Dan Norris, Mayor of the West of England said:

“I’m thrilled to see this brand-new entrance for Brunel’s iconic station taking shape. It’s all part of one of most exciting regeneration projects in Europe, which I’m proud is being administered by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority and will create a real gateway to the region.”

Barra Mac Ruarí, Chief Property Officer at the University of Bristol said:

“The progress on the new Eastern Entrance at Bristol Temple Meads is great to see. Opening directly onto University Square, it will integrate the new campus into its surroundings, and enhance connectivity and accessibility in the area. The station improvements will encourage our students, staff, partners and the community to use sustainable travel options.”

Stephen Peacock, CEO^▸ (Chief Executive Officer), Bristol City Council said:

“Structural completion of the Eastern Entrance is another sign of the momentum behind the Bristol Temple Quarter programme. Alongside the recent creation of the BTQLLP and the fantastic progress on the university’s campus, this is a fantastic point to reflect on how far we’ve come as we look forward to the delivery of new homes, jobs and opportunities for the city-region.”

Source: Bristol Temple Quarter Partnership

[Phantom]

The report above mentions this is the first of three new entrances, where are the other two new entrances going to be?

[Phantom]

Some more photos here
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/gallery/photos-show-new-23m-temple-9281466

[Red Squirrel]

The report above mentions this is the first of three new entrances, where are the other two new entrances going to be?

To the north - between the Old Station and the Signal Box. This is already the busiest entrance, but consists of a narrow footpath. The new northern entrance includes turning the current covered car park into a foyer.

To the south - from Bath Road, where there will be a new car park and an accessible route across the New Cut entering the station by Platform 2.

[johnneyw]

With regards to the new entrances mentioned above, does anyone know if the lack
of commencement on these is due to other work needing to be completed first or if there is no particular reason for it?

[Red Squirrel]

A lot of elements need to come together for each of the new entrances to be completed. For the northern one, the ‘signal box’ needs to go - but that’s still working signals to the west of Bristol. The recently-approved plans to create retail units in the Old Station fit in to the master plan to develop this entrance though.

The site of the southern entrance is currently occupied by contractors working on other parts of the station refurbishment, so maybe that has to wait until the roof repairs are finished.

It would seem logical to build the new car park at the southern entrance before closing the parking facilities in the Midland Shed, so I would think the southern entrance will progress ahead of the northern one.

I’m somewhat in awe of the team who are overseeing this project - to call it complex seems an understatement.

[TonyK]

I’m somewhat in awe of the team who are overseeing this project - to call it complex seems an understatement.

Hear hear! It's an absolutely enormous job, and all done around a still working railway station.

[Red Squirrel]

I’m somewhat in awe of the team who are overseeing this project - to call it complex seems an understatement.

Hear hear! It's an absolutely enormous job, and all done around a still working railway station.

…with the added complication that it is Grade I listed!

[johnneyw]

Bristol 24/7 has a sneak peek inside the completed new university campus entrance.  It's only a peek but the departure boards all seem to be up and should have gathered a fair amount of dust by the time it's scheduled to open.  Still, nice to see rail infrastructure being finished in good time.  Link below.

https://www.bristol247.com/news-and-features/news/first-look-bristol-temple-meads-new-eastern-entrance/

[TonyK]

Meanwhile, I read that many umiversities are cancelling or pausing major new building works. I hope Bristol's new campus doesn't go the same way.

[ChrisB]

Network Rail Western tweeted yesterday about a celebration on completion of that exit, which will now be mothballed until opening in 2026 once the University completes their new build.

[johnneyw]

Network Rail Western tweeted yesterday about a celebration on completion of that exit, which will now be mothballed until opening in 2026 once the University completes their new build.

What strikes me is that it's built and ready and Google maps shows it to be on the periphery of the construction site very close to Cattle Market Road.  So why not build a temporary access footpath away from any works entrance and open the entrance now for all the passengers using Temple Meads from that side of the station?  Seems a little bit of a missed opportunity and maybe a little frustrating to anyone who still has to traipse around to the main entrance but knows that a closer one is just sitting there.

[ChrisB]

Suspect that the numbers don't warrant another set of employees to man it all? Too far away to be CCTVd from the other side.

[Noggin]

Suspect that the numbers don't warrant another set of employees to man it all? Too far away to be CCTVd from the other side.

Also, IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly), the University is the landowner and I'm sure they won't want the H&S^▸ (Health and Safety) complication of members of the public next to their building site.

Incidentally, there was talk about a non-barriered corridor under Temple Meads through to the University site, anyone know if that is still on the cards?

[Red Squirrel]

Incidentally, there was talk about a non-barriered corridor under Temple Meads through to the University site, anyone know if that is still on the cards?

That was kicked into the long grass a while back, as it would mean putting in ticket barriers on every platform. There was also a vague scheme to install a footbridge or transfer deck, but that assumed a very large increase in passenger numbers and was not explored further.