Pilning - the station, services, viability and closure of down platform - ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[Oxonhutch]

Whilst looking at other stuff - as one does these days - I came across a DoT paper concerning the Proposed closure of Angel Road station in NE London dated 2018. In the responses to the proposed closure, 21 respondents called for the footbridge there (an overhead electrified line) be relocated to Pilning (page 3). Don't know what subsequently became of this as Angel Road closed in 2019.

[grahame]

Whilst looking at other stuff - as one does these days - I came across a DoT paper concerning the Proposed closure of Angel Road station in NE London dated 2018. In the responses to the proposed closure, 21 respondents called for the footbridge there (an overhead electrified line) be relocated to Pilning (page 3). Don't know what subsequently became of this as Angel Road closed in 2019.

The report hints ...

27 responses to the consultation were received by the Department during the consultation period, including from London TravelWatch, the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee, Rail Future and private individuals.

21 responses had a common theme in calling for the footbridge at Angel Road station to be dismantled and re-erected at Pilning station on the Great Western Mainline. This has no bearing on the closure of Angel Road station so the matter of any future use of the footbridge at another location has been referred to Network Rail and will not be dealt with further in this summary.

and that suggests to me that the inputs were too significant to ignore, but not overwhelming enough for anyone to follow the suggestions. So the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) were seen to be "helpfully" kicking the ball to someone else (actually their own agency!) who had a patch of long grass / filing cabinet waiting for it.

[Oxonhutch]

and that suggests to me that the inputs were too significant to ignore, but not overwhelming enough for anyone to follow the suggestions. So the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) were seen to be "helpfully" kicking the ball to someone else (actually their own agency!) who had a patch of long grass / filing cabinet waiting for it.

Indeed it does as it has not miraculously appeared at Pilning. My curiosity is more to who those 21 respondents were, and my guess is they they weren't from NE London but somewhat further west. I presume part of the action group to get their bridge, platform and service restored.

[Lee]

and that suggests to me that the inputs were too significant to ignore, but not overwhelming enough for anyone to follow the suggestions. So the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) were seen to be "helpfully" kicking the ball to someone else (actually their own agency!) who had a patch of long grass / filing cabinet waiting for it.

Indeed it does as it has not miraculously appeared at Pilning. My curiosity is more to who those 21 respondents were, and my guess is they they weren't from NE London but somewhat further west. I presume part of the action group to get their bridge, platform and service restored.

I wouldn't like to speculate as to who the other 20 were, but i have no.problem whatsoever with the world knowing that one of them was me.

[Western Pathfinder]

You have another here.

[grahame]

Network Rail removes footbridge at Chatham Station says the headline in Kent Online and my thoughts turn to Pilning.

"Here we go again?" I wonder. But then the article detail read ...

Work to install a new footbridge at Chatham Railway Station as part of a multi-million pound refurbishment has started.

Today the old bridge connecting the platforms was removed with a new one set to replace it as part of the Access for All scheme.

Access for all at Chatham;  access for none at Pilning. Yes, I understand that Chatham is a different case to Pilning,

[froome]

Have just seen this thread, so congratulations to the 21 signatories mentioned above. Looks like the start of some low-scale guerrilla action from our Pilning activists.

As it was Angel Road station, did any of the 21 suggest some sort of heavenly intervention to fly the bridge westwards? 

[grahame]

Probably one of the easiest "where was I today?" questions in a long time

[PrestburyRoad]

I don't know which former station it is, but I think the location is on the recently-electrified main line to Cardiff (from the style of masts and their bases) and with a clear view from South Wales over the Bristol Channel to north Somerset/Devon.

[JayMac]

Pilning perchance?

[Mark A]

It's going to be the vehicle loading ramp there shirley...

Along the old line to Redwick, near a cemetary, a lovely little surviving footpath gate crafted by a long-forgotten blacksmith.

Mark

[Mark A]

Also, in the hedge at the site of the level crossing at Pilning, some fairly hefty timberwork with iron castings, relics from one of the level crossing's gate posts and hinge mechanism. They may be there still.

Mark

[stuving]

The first picture is the stub that's left of the railway pier at New Passage.

[grahame]

Pilning perchance?

Yes, of course!











Mark A's hefty timber work is well hidden in the undergrowth, and there are a few fence lines around too.  The old bridge just to the north of Piling village remains in use with an 18 ton limit, but with signs of settlement on the footpath.

[AMLAG]

The station approach road looks in far better condition than many of Devon’s rural roads, where
reduced Govt. funding, heavier lorries and bigger agricultural vehicles together with the reduced quality of materials and standards of Contractors’ repairs, not helped by water/ frost ingress has resulted in tens of thousands of Potholes, that currently the Counties Highways Department can’t keep up with.  There are noticeably far fewer potholes in better funded Cornwall !