Chester station platforms poor condition

[seagull]

How do network rail let the platforms get into such poor condition at a well used station??

Probably the same reason the rest of the country tends towards a scruffy (at best) and dangerous (at worst) mess: for whatever reason we British seem to have an aversion to preventative maintenance, and prefer a reactive rather than proactive approach.

Chester must be among the worst though of the city stations I've been to in recent times.

 

[wobman]

Probably the same reason the rest of the country tends towards a scruffy (at best) and dangerous (at worst) mess: for whatever reason we British seem to have an aversion to preventative maintenance, and prefer a reactive rather than proactive approach.

Chester must be among the worst though of the city stations I've been to in recent times.

It's in an awful state just look at the stone work on P7, it's so bad the benches have been chained up.

The damage from the storm has also not been fixed, for me the worst part is the disabled access from the small car park is still closed off !!!!!!
The door has been closed due to damage for about 2 years and if your disabled you have to use the road to access city road and take your life into your own hands to get to a train.

Don't even mention the pigeons everywhere, nesting and messing all over the place is disgusting.

 

[Brush 4]

You would think Northwich was a warning and a lesson to be learnt.......

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Recently P1 at Chester was closed due to the supports crumbling under the platform edge, network rail have fitted temp supports to now prop it up.
Now P2 is having the same treatment and the platform staff say the remaining platforms are all in the same poor condition.
How do network rail let the platforms get into such poor condition at a well used station??

Some work was done on the P7 platform edge at Chester as part of the class 777 introduction - but I don't know what they did to it.
Chester's platforms are also unusually low.
Warrington BQ's platforms were completely rebuilt a decade ago, as part of the 11-car Pendolino work.
I wonder if anything new is needed at Chester for the introduction of class 805s?

 

[PHILIPE]

Chester is a Transport for Wales station in Englanfd

 

[wobman]

Some work was done on the P7 platform edge at Chester as part of the class 777 introduction - but I don't know what they did to it.
Chester's platforms are also unusually low.
Warrington BQ's platforms were completely rebuilt a decade ago, as part of the 11-car Pendolino work.
I wonder if anything new is needed at Chester for the introduction of class 805s?

The p7 work was just for the 777 units to enable step free access onto the units, it took them 2 attempts to do that job !!!! First time they laid the wrong slabs, no surprise though.

 

[BeijingDave]

Reminds me of how bad Derby got, years ago.

The answer there was total (progressive) reconstruction.

It probably needs a solution like Derby or Rugby had. Leave the nice building standing out front (it is Grade II listed). Tear down the roof and everything inside and put up modern interior and bridges.

 

[InOban]

Chester is a Transport for Wales station in Englanfd

Which may be the problem. TfW will be, correctly trying to get Westminster to pay for the refurbishment.

 

[BeijingDave]

It is one of the most crumbling, decrepit major stations on the network and a poor entrance to a vibrant tourist city.

 

[swt_passenger]

Which may be the problem. TfW will be, correctly trying to get Westminster to pay for the refurbishment.

TOCs aren’t responsible for the sort of major structural work being reported here though…

 

[Grumpy Git]

It’s not just platforms the whole network is crumbling.

I agree.

I was on the Stoke to Derby line on Monday and the whole route is falling to bits until you get to Derby.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Which may be the problem. TfW will be, correctly trying to get Westminster to pay for the refurbishment.

It will be NR's job to improve the station.
But NR-wise it sits in North West & Central rather than Western/Wales (whose infrastructure starts near Wrexham and Connah's Quay).
Meanwhile the lead TOC is TfW, although Avanti, Northern and Merseyrail have an interest.
Plenty of scope for disagreements on funding and priority.
Cheshire West & Chester council also has a role in developments at the station, and led the frontage improvements of a decade ago (bus stops, traffic calming and such).
ATW, as lead TOC, did sponsor the previous round of refurbishment, but I don't think they put in much cash.
It's worth remembering that the Chester-Wrexham redoubling recently was entirely in "England" (in NR terms) but was funded from Cardiff.

 

[Elecman]

It will be NR's job to improve the station.
But NR-wise it sits in North West & Central rather than Western/Wales (whose infrastructure starts near Wrexham and Connah's Quay).
Meanwhile the lead TOC is TfW, although Avanti, Northern and Merseyrail have an interest.
Plenty of scope for disagreements on funding and priority.
Cheshire West & Chester council also has a role in developments at the station, and led the frontage improvements of a decade ago (bus stops, traffic calming and such).
ATW, as lead TOC, did sponsor the previous round of refurbishment, but I don't think they put in much cash.
It's worth remembering that the Chester-Wrexham redoubling recently was entirely in "England" (in NR terms) but was funded from Cardiff.

Chester Station itself has been transferred to Wales & Western Region and no longer North West & Central

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Chester Station itself has been transferred to Wales & Western Region and no longer North West & Central

Very interesting - same as Shrewsbury and Hereford then now.

 

[frodshamfella]

It is one of the most crumbling, decrepit major stations on the network and a poor entrance to a vibrant tourist city.

Quite agree

 

[wobman]

Quite agree

It's such a shame as it could be a nice inviting station, but it's quite the opposite unfortunately.

 

[BeijingDave]

It's such a shame as it could be a nice inviting station, but it's quite the opposite unfortunately.

It's a shambles compared to York. (Lots for pun-savvy humourists to work with there)

I haven't been to Bath Spa station for years. But I imagine Chester's station doesn't compare favourably with 'competitor' tourist cities like these, except possibly Harrogate, which isn't nice either.

 

[Pacef8]

Considering the merseyrail liverpool service is the most frequent its the hardest to access.

 

[BeijingDave]

Considering the merseyrail liverpool service is the most frequent its the hardest to access.

Difficult to solve without a station entrance on the Lightfoot Street side, though.

Putting it in (say) Platform 2 would create a hell of a lot of conflicts.

 

[sefyllian]

TfW have already announced they’re going to “invest in Chester Station in 2028”. Does seem a fair way off, but I guess they do need to concentrate on getting the trains running reliably first…

[edited to remove reference to previous thread as they’re now merged]

 

[43055]

I was on the Stoke to Derby line on Monday and the whole route is falling to bits until you get to Derby.

As a user of the North Staffs line (well part of it) I never felt like it is 'falling to bits'.

 

[Meerkat]

Wasn't there a plan for some major trackwork changes at the east end of the station - would any of that mean you want it done (or cancelled!) before doing anything other than repair to the station itself?
It really does feel like it needs an exit to Hoole Way from the Merseyrail platform (that might require extending the new footbridge to all platforms depending on passenger flows). Presumably many commuters out of Chester come from the northern suburbs.
I still think the south west bays should be rebuilt for reversing TfW trains but thats definitely crayons/speculation territory.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

The accessibility from Hoole Way is pretty dire, with no scope for turning/dropping off without impeding the traffic already on the bridge approach.
I think the east end remodelling is part of the wider capacity upgrade being considered along with a new P8, but it's a long way from being a committed project.
The UK connectivity review did recommend an upgrade of Crewe/Manchester-Chester-Holyhead to match HS2, but again it's only in outline and without funds.

 

[sw1ller]

I’m sure I read somewhere that TfW were going to invest £10m in 2027. That will pay for a “deep clean” and a few benches! It need major investment and being as it’s situated so close to the border, no one wants to fork up the readies without falling out. £10m is a joke, the place needs levelling and starting all over.

 

[wobman]

I’m sure I read somewhere that TfW were going to invest £10m in 2027. That will pay for a “deep clean” and a few benches! It need major investment and being as it’s situated so close to the border, no one wants to fork up the readies without falling out. £10m is a joke, the place needs levelling and starting all over.

Atw wasted loads of money on a awful refurbishment, how they got approval for the terrible fake green cladding is baffling. They built a new car park smaller than the previous one and put a coffee shop were the ticket office should have stayed.
All on all Chester needs major investment but can't see it happening as its not in Wales.....

 

[Llandudno]

Atw wasted loads of money on a awful refurbishment, how they got approval for the terrible fake green cladding is baffling. They built a new car park smaller than the previous one and put a coffee shop were the ticket office should have stayed.
All on all Chester needs major investment but can't see it happening as its not in Wales.....

Yep, easier to buy a coffee or place a bet in the William Hill Betting shop than buy a train ticket at the booking office…!

 

[Pacef8]

The staff in the ticket office have been very helpful when we needed to collect tickets and jump through hoops booking a bike on board ! That facility has a long way to go !

 

[BeijingDave]

Yep, easier to buy a coffee or place a bet in the William Hill Betting shop than buy a train ticket at the booking office…!

But such things are clearly done with retail sales in mind, see also Manchester Airport where you have to walk through that ridiculous perfume section and come out stinking of Chanel Number 5 just to get to your departure gate.

 

[Zontar]

Difficult to solve without a station entrance on the Lightfoot Street side, though.

Putting it in (say) Platform 2 would create a hell of a lot of conflicts.

Cwac commited to look into this very issue in 2020..... Not heard anything since

Green light for regeneration of Chester railway station

There could be big changes coming for rail travellers

www.cheshire-live.co.uk

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

At this stage it's just money for studies, not for actual improvements on the rail estate.
I don't know what the London & Continental Railways interest is, but they appear to own some ex-BRB (non-operational) assets around the country.