Ardwick to get new footbridge

[The exile]

Eventually the area around Ardwick will regenerate and traffic will develop as Salford (Central)'s has. However any significant increase in traffic will require a brand new station.

Would have thought that a phenomenal increase in traffic would be needed to require a rebuild. Even to get to the point of one being thought worthwhile would need a % upswing with several noughts on the end!

 

[AlastairFraser]

Etruria was closed but they left Wedgewood & Barlaston as zombies, Ardwick is a strange one though similar to Mannors in Newcastle well connected by other means,

Well, there are frequent buses to most of the area, but it isn't Manchester's safest area - especially at night (Ardwick Green closer to Picc has a reputation as a red light district), so the quicker you can leave the area at some times of day, the better, and a rail station is much more likely to have CCTV in close proximity, unlike a bus stop.

Indeed. See Kempston Hardwick, at which usage is (or was) slowly growing due to new housing estates nearby from being the lowest used station in the country.

And stops elsewhere in Manchester, like Cornbrook on the Metrolink, where tower blocks are everywhere now.

 

[Grumpy]

For those that don't know Ardwick station, if you were going to kill someone and couldn't be bothered to hide the body, this would be the ideal place! It could possibly be years before anyone discovered it-indeed,

You‘ve obviously been giving this some thought. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

I took this picture the other week. If you zoom to the flange on the rear post, you can see straight through it!
The original photo is upright, not sure why it is sideways here!
Finally - photo taken through a train window whilst stationary awaiting platform, not by trespassing!

 

[Revilo]

Acording to Wikipedia, Ardwick saw 404 passengers last year, with a peak of 1520 in the year 2019/20...

How many hundred thousand pound is this footbridge going to cost?

Just close the station, why do we have this aversion to closing pointless stations in this country?

Because we’ve had too many short sighted closures in the past (eg Beeching). If demand changes eg in ten years time, its much easier to increase the service to a ‘mothballed’ station with a limited service, than to reopen it from complete closure.

 

[Trainfan2019]

Having travelled through Ardwick station many times I've often wondered how the current bridge is still standing and safe to use with all the rust.

I'm curious to know now that Ardwick is getting a new bridge, will any of the other Northern stations with bridge issues get a new bridge e.g Stanlow and Thornton? Has there ever been similar bridge safety issues at Ardwick that resulted in temporary closure?

 

[Kite159]

Having travelled through Ardwick station many times I've often wondered how the current bridge is still standing and safe to use with all the rust.

I'm curious to know now that Ardwick is getting a new bridge, will any of the other Northern stations with bridge issues get a new bridge e.g Stanlow and Thornton? Has there ever been similar bridge safety issues at Ardwick that resulted in temporary closure?

Isn't the issue at Stanlow that the bridge is owned by the refinery rather than Network Rail?

As for Ardwick, on the face of it, seems a waste of money due to the number of passengers which use the station (not counting any dodgy passengers using Ardwick to short-fare to bypass the barriers at Piccadilly), so only time will tell if it ever gains a better service. Similar to the money spent on replacing the waiting shelters at Clifton station (on the Salford - Bolton line)

 

[Krokodil]

However much the new footbridge costs, it (+ the ongoing maintenance costs) will be peanuts compared with the costs of closure and subsequent reopening. We’ve suffered far too long from short-termism - whether of the “I want it NOW” or the “I don’t need it now, so I’ll bin it” variety.

I'm quite impressed that the country is actually putting some forward thinking into this. That doesn't happen often.

Would have thought that a phenomenal increase in traffic would be needed to require a rebuild. Even to get to the point of one being thought worthwhile would need a % upswing with several noughts on the end!

A percentage increase with several noughts wouldn't be difficult when you're starting from 404 passengers.

 

[6Gman]

For those that don't know Ardwick station, if you were going to kill someone and couldn't be bothered to hide the body, this would be the ideal place! It could possibly be years before anyone discovered it-indeed, who knows what they’ll find when they come to do the bridge! Just don't plan your escape by train!
In many ways it reminds me of Etruia, you're very remote and alone and can't be seen from the road. And the changing landscape changed demand and usage of both stations. Etruia (quite rightly) didn't survive. Ardwick lives to fight another day.

Etruria was regarded as the closest station to Hanley shopping centre (slightly nearer than Stoke). In the 1960s I recall using it in that way, and we were by no means the only users. But waiting on the platform was a ... weird experience.

 

[Deafdoggie]

Etruria was regarded as the closest station to Hanley shopping centre (slightly nearer than Stoke). In the 1960s I recall using it in that way, and we were by no means the only users. But waiting on the platform was a ... weird experience.

Indeed, we regularly travelled to Etruia and walked to Hanley or Newcastle.
But then the local bus services improved dramatically and they went straight to Hanley and were cheaper. The demand for Etruia started falling and BR started not stopping all trains and it was downhill from there.
Similar story for Ardwick,

 

[The exile]

I'm quite impressed that the country is actually putting some forward thinking into this. That doesn't happen often.


A percentage increase with several noughts wouldn't be difficult when you're starting from 404 passengers.

Exactly! I reckon 5 zeros might put you in the realms of a rebuild being considered!

 

[Doctor Fegg]

Yes. It was a tight curve through the platform at speed! The whole area is gone now and I suspect many local people don't know where "Etruia" is anymore.

Etruria (two Rs) is a significant canal junction!

 

[Djgr]

Etruria (two Rs) is a significant canal junction!

Etruria was (is) reasonably well located but the road system around there is not very pedestrian friendly (to put it mildly). Also Hanley is basically finished as a destination.

 

[Southern Dvr]

With Ardwick, presumably the replacement bridge will need to come with lifts and accessibility that the current one doesn’t provide?

 

[The exile]

With Ardwick, presumably the replacement bridge will need to come with lifts and accessibility that the current one doesn’t provide?

Believe a “like for like” replacement is permitted.

 

[Lewisham2221]

Etruria (two Rs) is a significant canal junction!

I assumed he was meaning that many people would no longer know where the station was. I would imagine, being a local myself, that most would know where Etruria (the area) is. Conversely, I would suspect that many locals would have absolutely no idea about the canal junction.

Etruria was (is) reasonably well located but the road system around there is not very pedestrian friendly (to put it mildly).

Things got a bit easier when they installed crossings on the roundabout. It certainly doesn't seem to put of pedestrians trying to reach workplaces on Festival Park/Etruria Valley from the Newcastle side, or reaching the gym on the Newcastle side from the Etruria side.

Also Hanley is basically finished as a destination.

I dare say Festival Park/Etruria Valley is probably more of a destination now than Hanley. If you were to reopen a station in the area now, it would probably be better located on the northern side of the A53 with better road/pedestrian access to the retail/business parks and parking provision, especially since the completion of the new link road. That would push it awfully close towards Longport Station though. Alas, we're getting way off topic for the thread now.

 

[185]

Does seem an expensive waste for a truly derelict, near zero usage station... although I do believe Ardwick, my local station deserves a 20-minute London service, plus Eurostar.

*if they want a secondhand one they could use the bridge at Crewe. Infact both bridges. And the station roof, ticket office, walls. And everything else. Please take it all.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Does seem an expensive waste for a truly derelict, near zero usage station...

The point is that in 10 years' time it likely won't be that, it'll be surrounded by residential and commercial tower blocks as the city centre's expansion marches relentlessly on. And because it would be incredibly expensive to make it accessible and compliant to modern standards e.g. wide enough/non curved platform, if you close it now it's gone for good.

 

[The exile]

The point is that in 10 years' time it likely won't be that, it'll be surrounded by residential and commercial tower blocks as the city centre's expansion marches relentlessly on. And because it would be incredibly expensive to make it accessible and compliant to modern standards e.g. wide enough/non curved platform, if you close it now it's gone for good.

Exactly - trawl through the forum and you’ll find plenty of examples of people pointing out that new stations for new developments appear far too late (Wixams springs to mind) - and that the station needs to be there already when the people move in, otherwise they establish other patterns of travel which are then harder to shift. That’s effectively what’s happening here and, surprise surprise it’s a “pointless waste of money” because there’s nothing there.

 

[Krokodil]

Exactly - trawl through the forum and you’ll find plenty of examples of people pointing out that new stations for new developments appear far too late

This history is why I'm so surprised that any forward thinking appears to be taking place. I'm just not used to it happening in this country.

 

[Bletchleyite]

This history is why I'm so surprised that any forward thinking appears to be taking place. I'm just not used to it happening in this country.

It may well just be a coincidence, and Network Rail just automatically replacing the bridge because it's knackered without any thought to whether it should be replaced or not.

It is odd, though, given how many stations have been closed or near-closed due to not wanting to pay to replace bridges.

It does however make sense to keep this station open because development is likely to render it useful in the not too distant future (see also Kempston Hardwick, which was once the least-used station and is now, er, not quite as least-used, because of nearby housing development with more on the way).

 

[The Planner]

It may well just be a coincidence, and Network Rail just automatically replacing the bridge because it's knackered without any thought to whether it should be replaced or not.

Its a valid question, and that scenario is very much at the forefront of peoples minds now. A renewal automatically ends up as like for like in many cases (as that is all its funded for), you need to look at whether its still needed, is like for like fine or with the same funding/slight increase can you provide an enhancement.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Its a valid question, and that scenario is very much at the forefront of peoples minds now. A renewal automatically ends up as like for like in many cases (as that is all its funded for), you need to look at whether its still needed, is like for like fine or with the same funding/slight increase can you provide an enhancement.

It took long enough (and hundreds of thousands if not millions wasted) patching up the Conwy Valley every year or two before they saw sense and went down the "enhancement" line, dumping a load of massive rocks a bit like a sea wall alongside it, since which there has been flooding but there have been no washouts at all that I can recall.

As for Ardwick I think making it accessible would be horribly expensive due to its location, and post-development you might not even want the entrance where it is now, but development might provide an alternative if there's a suitable building to run a bridge to later, so for now "like for like" probably did make sense. Enhancements could even be funded via planning gain given the amount of development likely.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Does seem an expensive waste for a truly derelict, near zero usage station... although I do believe Ardwick, my local station deserves a 20-minute London service, plus Eurostar.

*if they want a secondhand one they could use the bridge at Crewe. Infact both bridges. And the station roof, ticket office, walls. And everything else. Please take it all.

Calls in addition to, or instead of terminating at, Piccadilly?
Wouldn't it require re-instatement of the Buxton to Matlock line as well though?

 

[Krokodil]

It took long enough (and hundreds of thousands if not millions wasted) patching up the Conwy Valley every year or two before they saw sense and went down the "enhancement" line, dumping a load of massive rocks a bit like a sea wall alongside it, since which there has been flooding but there have been no washouts at all that I can recall.

You're correct, just after the work had been done there was a flood and for the first time ever P-Way were able to take their go cart all the way to Llanrwst after waters had receded without having to turn back. The only minor washout was at a location where the work hadn't yet been done while waiting for Network Rail to purchase part of someone's garden.

 

[realaledrinker]

In many ways it reminds me of Etruia, you're very remote and alone and can't be seen from the road. And the changing landscape changed demand and usage of both stations. Etruia (quite rightly) didn't survive. Ardwick lives to fight another day.

In more recent times, the Bet365 World HQ was set up just along the A53 from the station, which might’ve provided more footfall.

 

[Deafdoggie]

In more recent times, the Bet365 World HQ was set up just along the A53 from the station, which might’ve provided more footfall.

I doubt many of them live in Kidsgrove or Longton. The bus is far handier. And not many use that, the car park has been extended several times!

 

[AlastairFraser]

It took long enough (and hundreds of thousands if not millions wasted) patching up the Conwy Valley every year or two before they saw sense and went down the "enhancement" line, dumping a load of massive rocks a bit like a sea wall alongside it, since which there has been flooding but there have been no washouts at all that I can recall.

As for Ardwick I think making it accessible would be horribly expensive due to its location, and post-development you might not even want the entrance where it is now, but development might provide an alternative if there's a suitable building to run a bridge to later, so for now "like for like" probably did make sense. Enhancements could even be funded via planning gain given the amount of development likely.

Aren't most of the new NR footbridges provisioned for potential lift installation in future if one is needed too?

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Manchester City’s penultimate ground at Hyde Road was adjacent to Ardwick station, in fact City were once called Ardwick. One of the stands from Hyde Road was re-erected at the Shay in Halifax where it remains to this day.

 

[AlastairFraser]

Manchester City’s penultimate ground at Hyde Road was adjacent to Ardwick station, in fact City were once called Ardwick. One of the stands from Hyde Road was re-erected at the Shay in Halifax where it remains to this day.

Yep, if non-locals see the large yard with containers on south of Manchester Picc, that is roughly where the older City Ground was. Of course they then moved to Maine Road in Moss Side and then back over east to the Etihad.