Newport Station - problems, improvements and enhancements (merged topics)

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

No, they are MINE!!!

I did ask the DSM (very nicely - including an offer to donate a few pennies to the charity of her choice) if I could have one, the last time I was at Casnewydd. She told me I'd have to put my request in writing to ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))). That was December and I've had no reply.  

The gate at the top of the ramp was open the last time I was there. Did consider nipping down the slope and prising open one of the poster panels. Weighed up the consequences of being caught and prosecuted for tresspass and theft and thought better of it.  

[Glovidge]

Am i  the only person to be pretty un impressed with the upgrade it just appears to be steps ,steps and more steps.
And the lift shaft effort on the island platforms has reduced sighting considerably thus increasing safety risks for HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train)

No its a waste of money. No shops, no toilets in the new building, no cash machines, no coffee vendors etc etc... Absolute gubbins. What a complete waste of money

[JayMac]

Can anyone bag me one of the InterCity Sleeper posters that are still on display in the disused ramp down to the old subway? Must've been there since the early 1980s!!! 

Apologies for quoting myself and concentrating on a largely irrelevant aspect, vis-a-vis, the re-vamped Newport station, but I passed through today and the Sleeper posters are still there - crying out for a decent home. Fingers crossed my second email to ATW^▸ (Arriva Trains Wales (former TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company))) gets a response. 

[Glovidge]

They could do with some visible staff in the night there... Especially when services are delayed or cancelled by more than 2 hours. I saw   one person being besieged by irate members of the public

[JayMac]

From the South Wales Argus:

Newport^s station a 'travesty' - clothing boss Laura Tenison

The founder of a multimillion- pound baby and maternity wear company has called Newport^s new ^22 million railway station a ^travesty^.

JoJo Maman Bebe founder Laura Tenison MBE, who frequently cycles between the station and her head office in an industrial estate in Lliswerry, said it would have been better if the money spent on it had gone towards renovating the old building.

She said she was not involved in city politics but ^it appears to me a lot of money was spent on making Newport cosmetically better without really addressing the underlying problems^.

I was appalled by the money spent on the preparation for the Ryder Cup,^ she said saying that the new railway station is an ^ostentatious folly built in a hurry^ for the competition. The businesswoman, who is a 44-year old mum-of-two, said that she notices every time she gets off the train that the building has weathered ^a little more^.

^When I cycle from the office back to Newport and I want to buy a cup of coffee I have to go to the end of the station, which when you are in a rush for the train the shop is in an inconvenient place,^ she said.

She added she thought the bike racks were inconvenient as well.

The businesswoman, who regularly cycles from the station to the office and back, said the older facilities were charming and historic: ^The awnings over the railway lines was a beautiful way to arrive in South Wales.^

The original station is currently being converted into a council information centre.

However she said there were many great things about the city, commending the lighting on the castle, Newport Market and the renovation of the Transporter Bridge.

She told the Argus the company may double the number of people that work for it in Newport over the next three to five years as it continues its UK^▸ (United Kingdom) retail roll out and builds international sales.

It currently employs 110 people at its head office and warehouse in Lliswerry and expects to employ another 20 in Newport over the next 12 months.

The firm is planning to open five new stores before Christmas, bringing the total number up to 42.

[phile]

Of course, station "improvements" are managed by Network who work in their own little world and not directly responsible to passengers and fail to appreciate their needs.    Passengers responsibility of TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company).

[Glovidge]

Found out Newport Station had recently been nominated for the Carbuncle Cup 2011, an award for the worst new British building of the year

Here is the citaiton explaining why:

Architect: Grimshaw + Atkins

Citation:

^It is possibly not the ^ugliest^ building of the year - but it is surely the building with the widest gap between ambitious original aspiration and leaden banality in what was constructed, It has the potential to remain as an eyesore for a lengthy period - railway stations don^t tend to get redeveloped every 30 years!

This was announced as an ^iconic^, world-class, gateway to the City of Newport and a catalyst for regeneration.

What has been delivered falls short at a functional level, makes the station harder to use for most ambulant travellers, and makes absolutely no impression on the arriving visitor.

The suppposedly ^iconic^ form of the building can only be appreciated by seagulls of those foolhardy enough to climb the clock tower of Newport Civic Centre.

It is telling that Network Rail^s own promotional posters for this ^22million investment show a nighttime view from the air.

Any close up view leads to a recoiling from the poverty of the detailing and the clunkiness of the way the building intereacts with its surroundings, with the curved forms not relating to any adjacent landscaping or structures.

The two service buildings constructed alongside the main concourse are pedestrian and appear to be too small for the functions crammed into them. ^

Rab Lang

Full artilce here: http://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/carbuncle-cup-2011-%E2%80%94-view-all-the-nominated-projects/5021290.article

[anthony215]

certainly deserves it. The new station building are horrible and stick out like a sore thumb.

I also go like the fact that the bridge is so far away from the cafe

[Tim]

Why couldn't they have just installed a new over-bridge with lifts for the "non-ambulant" and left the old bridge, shops, ticket office and gateline in place?

[phile]

Or just refurbished and made the original entrance look smarter.    Would have saved a lot of money as well.

[eightf48544]

Does the roof still leak in rain?

[anthony215]

That seems to have been sorted, mostly although i have noticed the odd drip when i was there when it was raining last.

[dog box]

the refurbished canopy seems to have started rusting in places and lots of gaffa tape has been applied to the joints of the roof panels more leaks??

[Glovidge]

HAd to get an early train this morning and taxi from Newport station. can anyone tel me where the cashpoints are for future reference? For some reason they are none enar the ticket office. Are they on Platform 4?

A mainline station without an obvious cashpoint facility? ^22 MILLION WELL SPENT

[JayMac]

No ATM^‡(resolve) at Newport Station. Question I asked of staff there some months back. Nearest one I could find was a NatWest down the pedestrianised road opposite the old station entrance.