Goring and Streatley station - facilities, services, footbridge, improvements, events and incidents - merged posts

[whole diary]

[IndustryInsider]

Which isn't much good at Goring - unless they're putting on a late shift in addition to the current early shift?

[Oxonhutch]

In the afternoon the lifts would work just as well as they do now! 

[Risk Assessment] I suppose it will depend on the level of potential abuse unsupervised, and a guess at how long it will take to release someone from a failed lift by a third-party contractor - the Fire Brigade are not that keen on this kind of work these days and would certainly charge heavily for their services[/Risk Assessment]

[lordgoata]

The locals in the close that butts up to the station were complaining about it as well. Since the trees were "pruned" they are commenting the noise is considerably worse, and with the new bridge location, its right over their gardens/properties. They are particularly put out by the huge lift shafts - and one of their main avenues for complaint is the fact they will not run out of hours (think its manned 0600-1200 Mon-Fri), and with rumors of Goring becoming un-manned eventually, are questioning the logic.

Whilst I agree its kinda crazy to spend all this money when they will potentially not be running 50% of the time, was there not a discussion on here some time back about them working out of hours with CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) monitoring off-site for problems and vandalism ?

Given the recent spat of graffiti and the "free" travel between Tilehurst, Pangbourne, Goring and Cholsey, it will be interesting to see how long things remain nice and shiny when they have finished

[Oxman]

I have it on good authority that FGW^▸ (First Great Western)/NR^» (Network Rail - home page) are looking at a system of remote monitoring that would allow the lifts to operate 24/7.

NR is responsible for maintenance of lifts on stations. It has a contract with the lift maintenance contractor that currently specifies a maximum response time of two hours for an engineer to attend on site following an entrapment. Most entrapments are dealt with quickly by the station staff, and the passengers are released well before the engineer arrives. But I guess this might mean that, for an unstaffed station, it could take up to two hours to release anyone that becomes trapped.

The FGW on call manager for stations is not going to be too happy if he/she is also called out to lift entrapments!!!

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Henley Standard:

Cash boost for group^s road safety scheme

A campaign to widen a narrow pavement near Goring station has received a ^5,000 pledge from the parish council.

The authority has agreed to pay the grant towards the ^100,000 project next year as long as it receives the rest of the funding it needs.

The Mobility Issues Group for Goring and Streatley wants to widen a stretch of walkway in Wallingford Road, which is less than 1m wide, to more than 1.25m.

It says this is enough for two people with wheelchairs, mobility scooters, prams or pushchairs to pass without stepping into the road.

The pavement, which lies between the Reading Road and High Street junctions, would be extended backwards on to land owned by Network Rail, which has given provisional permission.

The area slopes downwards so the extension would have to be propped up on a parapet. Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, may be willing to take responsibility for maintenance.

John Boler, the mobility group^s chairman, told a parish council meeting last week: ^The pledge we^re asking from you is a sprat to catch a mackerel ^ the mackerel in this case being a larger grant from First Great Western. We hope they will provide between ^80,000 and ^92,000 depending on the final cost of the project. We have already received ^5,000 in private pledges and a considerable amount of pro bono work from Arup, which has put forward a workable solution to widening the pavement on such a steep embankment.

^Pedestrians will be able to walk side by side and passengers with bulky luggage will also be able to walk to the station safely. We need to raise ^1 in every ^5 towards this locally and all we are asking from you is 50p out of every ^5.^

Mr Boler said the scheme was the ^final piece in a bigger picture^ of improvements at the station, where First Great Western recently installed disabled access toilets.

Network Rail is installing a new footbridge as part of its electrification scheme that includes three passenger lifts which will open next year. Mr Boler said there were more than 60,000 pedestrian movements on Wallingford Road every year so many people would benefit. He first asked the council for a ^5,000 pledge last October but was turned down as the proposal was at too early a stage.

But at last Monday^s meeting, the chairman Kevin Bulmer said: ^I must say that getting a long^standing problem sorted out for ^5,000 is really good value for money. John and the mobility group deserve all credit for the effort they^ve put into this.^

The council agreed to provide a letter endorsing the group^s funding bid to First Great Western, which has a ^2.2 million fund for works ^not necessarily on railway infrastructure^.

[john_boler]

Take the train to Goring & Streatley to have access to our attractive twin villages and enjoy the surrounding Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Goring bridge is where the Thames and Ridgeway long distance paths intersect. Find your way using the orientation plaque at the station.

[john_boler]

The first section of deck was lifted off around mid-day after preparations that began at 4am.

[john_boler]

Work began on Saturday night, 13 February, on erection of the new footbridge at Goring and Streatley station. Work is expected to continue at weekends until early March. Completed so far are the intermediate staircase supports on all three platforms. Installation of lifts is integral to bridge construction and lifts are expected to be installed and operational "by the summer", according to Network Rail. The lifts are part of a comprehensive programme of accessibility improvements by NR^» (Network Rail - home page) and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), including a fully accessible toilet and, most recently, multi-level counter at the booking office window for the benefit of wheelchair users. The Mobility Issues Group for Goring and Streatley has been awarded a grant by GWR to commission a consultancy report into the options for widening the pavement approach to the station. The consultancy will be set up jointly with Goring-on-Thames parish council. The photos show the scene at the station as dawn broke on the morning of Valentine's day and, later in the day, the staircase structures (finished in the new GWR green) in a support role as steam enthusiast awaited the passage of Tornado on its journey to Worcester.

[john_boler]

The footbridge spans were installed on Saturday night/Sunday morning, 2/3 April after an unsuccessful attempt to instal the span over the relief lines early on the morning of Easter day.

[Oxonhutch]

I love Brunel's broad gauge gap on the main lines to the right.

Would be nice to get step free access to just platform 4 (and 5!) at Cholsey via upper carpark ramp. Can't see any other step free capability there soon.

[ChrisB]

From NRs^» (Network Rail - home page) recent e-newsletter -

Construction of the new Access For All footbridge at Goring and Streatley Station is nearing completion. We are currently working with SSE^‡(resolve) to provide a power supply for the lifts. The below are indicative dates for the opening.
^27 May - Open footbridge subject to Train Operation Company agreement and sign-off
^29 May - 5 June - Removal of temporary footbridge
^Mid-June - Open lifts subject to power supply

The new footbridge will provide passengers and the local community with a step free route across the railway.

[lordgoata]

The new footbridge will provide passengers and the local community with a step free route across the railway.

[/quote]

Just don't run/walk too quickly down the stairs on platforms 2/3, as you'll likely run straight into the brick wall of the waiting room at the end! I can't believe how close that is, given the acres of platform space, hehehe.

[Oxman]

The new footbridge opened this afternoon. The lifts have power to them, but are out of use at the moment.

[john_boler]

Although they were not opened formally until 26 September 2016, on 8 September 2017 the lifts at Goring and Streatley will have been available for public use for one year. Initially the lifts were under local control only when the station was staffed. Then local control was extended to every day from 6am to 5.30pm. Since the formal opening they have been open under passenger control from 6am to 10.30pm, with remote monitoring and control between 10.30pm and 6am. In practice the remote control system is so cumbersome that passengers do not use it.

At the risk of tempting fate I am pleased to report that there has been no known incident since a brief entrapment of a passenger during the two week "teething" period before the official opening. This experience is in stark contrast to some of the pessimistic predictions posted on this Forum in advance of (a) the decision to instal lifts and (b) their opening a year ago.

We hope that our representations to Network Rail and the Oxfordshire highways to widen the pavement in Wallingford Road, alongside the station will have an equally positive outcome.

We are very grateful to Network Rail and Great Western Railway, and to their contractors, especially Murphy Group, for their constructive approach to all our representations during the works at Goring and Streatley station, even when they have not been able to grant all our wishes. We are also grateful to our MP^▸ (Member of Parliament), John Howell for his support.

John Boler, Chairman, Mobility Issues Group for Goring and Streatley

[john_boler]

The food and drink symbol on the orientation plaque, made redundant by closure of the Queens Arms pub, now has new salience with the opening on the old pub site of a spanking new Tesco Express store. Food and drink are now available to passengers from 7am to 11pm, seven days a week.