Swindon - facilities, improvements, signalling, events and incidents, including GWR history - merged posts

[whole diary]

[ellendune]

Was at the station on tuesday and I got the distict impression that the work had finally finished!  Correct me if I am mistaken.

Could it be that this work, which started in August 2011 and which was due to take 6 months is finally finished after 14 months?

[bobm]

I think it nearly is.  I was there on Wednesday (yesterday) and there were some orange crowd barriers surrounding a small area to the right of the entrance by the gas meter cabinet and adjacent to the the payphones and post box.  I'll check if they are still there in the morning as I head for the train.

[Chris from Nailsea]

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

Delayed Swindon station forecourt revamp complete

A ^1.8m revamp of the forecourt at Swindon railway station is finally complete, more than three months after work was planned to finish.

Work to modernise the area began in August 2011 and was due to be completed in June, but it was beset by delays due to heavy rain over the summer.

The local authority's economic development body, Forward Swindon has overseen the work.

Chief executive Ian Piper said he was "delighted" with the result. He said: "We set out to really improve the environment at the station and change that really important gateway for the town. We think it looks fabulous and the feedback we've had has been really positive."

The area to the front has been paved with granite and lined with trees to highlight the route to the town centre.

A new taxi rank provides room for 14 cabs with an additional route for taxi drop-offs and emergency vehicles.

Mr Piper said the "wettest spring and summer for 100 years" and the building contractor "underestimating the complexity of the paving work" led to the delay in completing the project.

Nikki King, landlady of the GW^▸ (Great Western) hotel and bar which overlooks the station, said the new design had "made a lot of difference".

"It's just taken a long time to get there and trade is picking up for us," she said.

[ellendune]

From the Swindon Advertiser http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/9992820._/

The revamp of Swindon railway station has been completed three months behind schedule.
 
The project was meant to be completed in June but was delayed by bad weather.

The scheme, which was part of Swindon Council^s vision to improve the town centre, was beset by problems.
 
Contractor Britannia Construction, which started the work in September last year, initially hoped to finish by the end of June but blamed the wettest months on record in April and May for the delays.
 
Additional utilities work was also required since the site is crossed by a number of major pipelines and drainage systems, none of which were evident at the start.

Ian Piper, the CEO^▸ (Chief Executive Officer) at Forward Swindon, said: ^The anticipated completion dates were too ambitious considering the work involved, especially when taking into account the appalling weather this year.
 
^But the station has been open for business throughout and we^re sure the new forecourt will be of benefit to Swindon long-term.^
 
The area to the front has been paved with granite and lined with trees to highlight the route to the town centre.
 
A new taxi rank provides room for 14 cabs with an additional route for taxi drop-offs and emergency vehicles.

Strange about being three months late.  The BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-14727900originally said on 31st August 2011:

Swindon train station forecourt refurbishment beginsContinue reading the main story
Related Stories
Station upgrade reaches new phase

The first phase of a ^1.75m facelift for the forecourt of Swindon railway station has begun.

Swindon Borough Council plans to turn the taxi rank and bus stops outside the station into a paved area, lined with benches and trees.

Contractors will begin by creating a temporary taxi rank so work on the station can start properly over the next fortnight.

The work is expected to take six months to complete

That would have meant completion in February 2012 so I make that 8 months late.   

[bobm]

This bridge, just to the east of Swindon station, used to be the most bashed bridge on the network.  It has dropped down the list in recent years but was again the scene of an incident this week when a lorry - whose driver admitted using a sat-nav - came to grief

From Swindon Advertiser

IT was a case of a bridge too low for one lorry driver after his vehicle became wedged under an infamous town centre bridge.
 
The lorry stuck fast under the Whitehouse Bridge yesterday afternoon, forcing drivers to find an alternative route into the town centre.
 
Police were called to the scene at about 12.10pm and closed the road while they helped to free the vehicle.
 
A police spokesman said the bridge had not been severely damaged and the driver had to make contact with his employer telling him of the issue ^ just three days into his current job.
 
The driver who was left red-faced was travelling from Frome and said that he had not seen signs about the height of the bridge.
 
He said: ^I was following the sat nav and did not see the signs.

^I would definitely say that there need to be clearer signs leading up to the bridge.
 
^There was not much of an impact because I wasn^t going fast enough but I went under just enough to get the reflector stuck.
 
^There is no damage to the bridge or the cab.

^The engineer has said that someone else did it just a couple of weeks ago.^

Network Rail were informed of the incident but there was no disruption to the trains and no damage to the bridge, which has become infamous for catching out drivers.

A council spokesman said: ^There are ordinary warning signs on the approach, and there are flashing vehicle-activated warning signs.
 
^Then there is the bridge itself, which apart from looking extremely low is painted yellow, and has a band of reflective chevrons attached.
 
^There is also a sign on the side showing its height, accompanied by the words ^Low Bridge^ in huge letters. We^re struggling to think of anything else we can realistically do.^
 
This road was cleared by 2pm and the driver was given a penalty notice by police.

I am not sure I agree about the lack of signage cited by the driver.  I went and had a look for myself this morning.




As the council spokesman said "what else can you do!"

[Red Squirrel]

Thanks for that! The phrase 'laugh out loud' (at least in its acronymic form) is rather over-used these days, but all of us at Squirrel Towers hooted when we scrolled down to the bottom picture!

[Electric train]

As the council spokesman said "what else can you do!"

Trim the overhanging shrubbery.

This bridge used have a lot more spans over the road, used to catch a lot of lorries out as it tapered so the would get wedge halfway through

[Super Guard]

Others will probably know more, but just as I finished yesterday afternoon, there were messages going out that there was a total loss of signalling affecting the Swindon area, with HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) services being diverted via the B&H^▸ (Berks and Hants - railway line from Reading to Taunton via Westbury) route and no services between Chippenham & Didcot Parkway.

It was suspected a line-side fire near Kemble affecting 90meters of cabling might have been to blame, with severe disruption ongoing for Friday afternoon peak.

[Jason]

It was suspected a line-side fire near Kemble affecting 90meters of cabling might have been to blame

The monitors beneath the main departure boards at Paddington on Friday ~17:15 were showing a picture also posted on twitter of some burned out line-side cabling.
I don't have access to it here to be able to repost it.

[JayMac]

Here is the picture you refer to, Nosaj:


https://twitter.com/NetworkRailPAD/status/355708360001212416/photo/1

According to reports, the fire actually started on adjacent land and spread to the cabling. See: http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/10545942.Train_passengers_face_delays_following_fire_near_track

[TonyK]

With the whole lineside being tinder-dry, it's amazing this has only happened once.

[Red Squirrel]

With the whole lineside being tinder-dry, it's amazing this has only happened once.

...which makes me wonder why the cables aren't better protected - or am I (as usual) being naive?

[JayMac]

I guess you can only protect from so many eventualities. Should Network Rail be looking to mitigate against fire damage encroaching from off railway property? To do so across the network would be, I'm guessing, prohibitively expensive.

Like a lot of 3rd party problems that affect the rail network, it's a margin call. Spend oodles protecting against a freak event? Or manage the problem when one of those freak events occur?

[TonyK]

I guess you can only protect from so many eventualities.

Agreed. It isn't likely to happen often enough to merit spending a huge pile of cash.

[bobm]

I guess you can only protect from so many eventualities.

Agreed. It isn't likely to happen often enough to merit spending a huge pile of cash.

I also agree.  However I am also a little concerned that damage to a cable run at Kemble (on the line between Swindon and Gloucester) affected signalling from Didcot to Chippenham which prevented not only services from London to Bristol but also to South Wales.  There must be some very strange cable routings....