Wilton Parkway - a new railway station for South West Wiltshire

[whole diary]

[JontyMort]

"Senior Druid King Arthur Pendragon..."

I didn't vote for him. 

You don't vote for Kings!

I knew you would spot the reference, BNM!

Back on topic, it does seem odd to propose a station just beyond the junction - why not at it, thus serving both routes?

No access, no room for parking & no room for a station.  Look on street view.

Convincing. Actually I had also forgotten how close Wilton is to Salisbury.

[grahame]

From Wiltshire Council

Wiltshire Council has submitted bids to the Department for Transport (DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)) for funding to develop feasibility studies for two new stations in Wilton and Corsham, as part of the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund to link the two towns to the national rail network.

The goal in Wilton would be the creation of Wilton Junction, a four-platform station that would be situated adjacent to the park and ride site in the town and would provide a rail link to Salisbury, and access to train services on the West of England line from London Waterloo to Exeter, plus other parts of Wiltshire on the TransWilts line, with two trains stopping at the station each hour. It would also provide sustainable access to the Stonehenge World Heritage Site (potentially through improved bus links), Cranborne Chase AONB^▸ (Areas Of Natural Beauty) and National Cycle routes.

The bid has the support of a range of stakeholders, including John Glen MP^▸ (Member of Parliament), Network Rail, South Western Railway, Great Western Railway, TransWilts, Salisbury REDs, Nationwide Rail, Go South Coast and Wilton Town Council.

[snip]

Cllr Bridget Wayman, Cabinet Member for Highways, said: "These are two excellent bids that, if approved and progressed further, will go some way to improving rail links in Wiltshire, and enable more people to travel by train to and from Wilton and Corsham.

"The Wilton Junction bid would provide easy rail access to Salisbury and the rest of Wiltshire, plus onwards to London, and would also encourage tourists to visit the town, with potentially improved bus links from the station to Stonehenge and Cranborne Chase. It would also help to relieve traffic on the A36 and associated air quality issues in the area.

[snip]

"However, it's important to state that these are early days for each of the bids. If one or both are approved at this stage by the DfT in the next few months, we will be given funding to take the bids to the next step, which will see the preparation of strategic outline business cases. Only then could we start to get an indication of whether the bids will be a success, but we have submitted comprehensive bid applications, so we have high hopes.

"Both submissions are an excellent example of partnership working, with local council members, council officers, MPs and the town councils all working closely with other stakeholders to create these strong bids.

"If approved, it's expected that the Wilton project would cost around £20m and would look to be delivered sometime in the period 2024-2029 to fit in with other rail industry initiatives, while the Corsham project would cost in the region of £10m-£15m. Implementation of the station would be dependent on securing a suitable train service, which will involve work with the rail industry and key partners along the line."

Snipped the Corsham stuff which I have posted under a thread there

[ChrisB]

Who is/are "Nationwide Rail" - not an organisation I've yet come across.

[grahame]

Who is/are "Nationwide Rail" - not an organisation I've yet come across.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/nationwide-rail-limited

NATIONWIDE RAIL LIMITED is a railroad manufacture company based out of HITCHCOCK HOUSE HILLTOP BUSINESS PARK DEVIZES ROAD, SALISBURY, United Kingdom.

Website: http://nationwiderail.co.uk
Industries: Railroad Manufacture
Headquarters: SALISBURY

[ChrisB]

Ahhh....contractors looking for work. Yes, they'd be likely sponsors.

[Bmblbzzz]

I note (and approve) that this idea is for a station with platforms on the north-south and east-west lines, whereas previous talk of a station in Wilton has been only on the north-south line.

[grahame]

From TransWilts (click on that link to go to this page and event registration link via Eventbrite)

Wilton is at the junction between the Salisbury to Bristol line and the Salisbury to Exeter line.

It is 7 miles to Stonehenge Visitor Centre. A consultants report by Atkins shows an economic case and a developer for housing at the site has been identified. Station cost is in the order of £15m.
 
To join our meeting regarding Wilton Junction developments on Thursday 18th March from 19:00, please go to News

Technical note - for our diary where we have only space for a very little tea, I have used the code WSJ for Wilton and Stonehenge Junction as it now seems likely to be styled ...

[Lee]

From TransWilts (click on that link to go to this page and event registration link via Eventbrite)

Wilton is at the junction between the Salisbury to Bristol line and the Salisbury to Exeter line.

It is 7 miles to Stonehenge Visitor Centre. A consultants report by Atkins shows an economic case and a developer for housing at the site has been identified. Station cost is in the order of £15m.

Turning the ancient stones into a housing estate would certainly be an innovative way to make the case for Wilton Stonehenge Junction Parkway 

[paul7575]

“In the order of £15m”?

For four platforms, lifts, separate levels on the two routes, but I suppose some of the car park and road access already exists.

Reading Green Park - two platforms, £18m?
Soham - one platform, footbridge, £21m?

Is £15m anywhere near realistic?

Paul

[IndustryInsider]

Is £15m anywhere near realistic?

Worcestershire Parkway was £22m with three platforms (one awkward one on an embankment), concourse, covered overbridge, ticket office and toilets - and a very large car park.

[paul7575]

Is £15m anywhere near realistic?

Worcestershire Parkway was £22m with three platforms (one awkward one on an embankment), concourse, covered overbridge, ticket office and toilets - and a very large car park.

does that mean Soham is a bad example?

[IndustryInsider]

£22m sounds like a lot for what there is, but maybe there were extra costs for land acquisition and preparation?  It was quoted as £18.6m in this quite recent link:

https://www.elystandard.co.uk/news/business/network-rail-award-18m-contract-for-soham-station-4916142

[grahame]

Reviving an old thread - Wilton Parkway / Stonehenge Road developments seem to have gone quiet. A simple idea for a pair of basic platforms in the wide cutting on the Westbury to Salisbury line, with slopes up to the footpath over into the extant park and ride.  But it mushroomed - to add lifts, platform(s) on the Exeter line(s) and an extended over bridge with a significant drop (more stairs and a lift) down to the south, with ancillary works such as  a road crossing into the area or the Wilton Outlet Centre.

The initial proposals were for trains to call on their way from Swindon to Southampton and from Bristol Temple Meads to London Waterloo, and shorter runs such as Westbury to Southampton services, and London to Frome (SWT^▸ (South West Trains)/R) trains. Perhaps the Brighton trains too.  But Swindon to Southampton has been reduced to a single service a day (06:11), there's only one a day from London (Waterloo) to Frome - at 07:40, the Westbury to Southampton service and the Brighton trains have been withdrawn.  Even on the extended proposal with platforms on the Exeter line too, the service which was 2 trains each way in most hours, with the second train terminating at Tisbury, Gillingham or Yeovil and able to pick up the extra call without impacting the Exeter express, the extras are  gone. As I write, there's just one train every 2 hours through that line.

I thought of Wilton when my when New Civil Engineer popped up with a new station going ahead at Cambridge South.   Like Wilton, near a junction.  With track layout changes and other works, as Wilton had mushroomed into.  Price tag ... up from the (perhaps) £10 million for two simple platforms and slopes at Wilton to £184 million for Cambridge.  If there's a price tag like that for Wilton, will it have become a scheme that's too big for its own boots, ignoring the train service cutbacks in the area.  And if the only trains still passing through on a regular basis - to Portsmouth and to Cardiff - are reduced as standard from 5 to 3 or 2 carriages, would there be capacity for passengers to and from Wilton anyway?