New Stations fund - next list announced

[The Planner]

Horden Peterlee in County Durham which will receive £4.4 million of DfT funding towards a scheme worth £10.55 million

Warrington West in Cheshire, which will receive £4.23 million towards a total project cost of £17.2 million

Reading Green Park which will receive £2.3 million towards a total project cost of £16.5 million

Bow Street in Ceredigion, Wales which will receive £3.945 million towards a total project cost of £6.76 million

Portway Parkway near Bristol which will receive £1.672 million towards a total project cost of £2.23 million

Link here

Rail passengers are set for better journeys with 5 new stations to be built across England and Wales, the government announced today (28 July 2017).

The Department for Transport (DfT) has given the green light for the stations, which will provide long term benefits to passengers and the wider economy. The government will invest over £16 million in the schemes under the new stations fund, which gives local communities improved rail services. All of the new stations will be accessible, with step-free access throughout.

The successful bids announced today are:

Horden Peterlee in County Durham which will receive £4.4 million of DfT funding towards a scheme worth £10.55 million
Warrington West in Cheshire, which will receive £4.23 million towards a total project cost of £17.2 million
Reading Green Park which will receive £2.3 million towards a total project cost of £16.5 million
Bow Street in Ceredigion, Wales which will receive £3.945 million towards a total project cost of £6.76 million
Portway Parkway near Bristol which will receive £1.672 million towards a total project cost of £2.23 million
Rail Minister Paul Maynard said:

We are committed to improving journeys for passengers right across the country. This means delivering more trains, quicker journeys and making more seats available.

The new stations fund is a great example of how our record investment in the railways and work with local authorities and industry is delivering better journeys for passengers and boosting local economies.

The stations will improve access to the rail network and create new leisure, training, employment and business opportunities, as well as supporting new housing developments. All of the stations will be completed by March 2020.

Today’s announcement is the second round of funding for the scheme. The initial round has already delivered improvements to passengers and communities with stations at Newcourt (Exeter), Lea Bridge (London), Pye Corner (Newport) and Ilkeston already open and Kenilworth due to be completed later this year.

David Biggs, Managing Director for Network Rail Property, said:

More people than ever are choosing to travel by train and this ambitious investment into brand new stations allows us to meet growing demand while providing greater connectivity across Britain.

New stations are proven to have a hugely positive effect on local areas, acting as a catalyst for regeneration driving social and economic improvements. We look forward to beginning work on these schemes as part of our continued efforts to create a better railway for Britain.

Details on each of the stations are:

Horden Peterlee
The new station, which will have 2 platforms, will deliver improved access to employment opportunities to the area, which has low levels of car ownership, making it easy for people to get around.

Warrington West
Key benefits include reducing congestion on the M62 motorway and supporting the Chapelford Urban Village housing development. The station will have 2 platforms and a 268 space car park.

Reading Green Park
The station has the potential to unlock 7,500 new jobs and 1,500 homes, serving an area currently only accessible by road. It will have 2 platforms.

Bow Street
The station will act as a park and ride site for Aberystwyth and Borth stations and will help traffic congestion in Aberystwyth.

Portway Parkway
The station will serve an existing park and ride site and will reduce congestion on inner Bristol roads.

 

[DarloRich]

and cue the list of what about X.................

 

[pemma]

Warrington West was expected as the Northern franchise agreement mentions serving it if it opens.

With regards to 'What about x' I think the criteria for the new station funding requires the proposed station to be on an existing line with an existing passenger service, which rules out a lot of possibilities.

 

[DarloRich]

Warrington West was expected as the Northern franchise agreement mentions serving it if it opens.

With regards to 'What about x' I think the criteria for the new station funding requires the proposed station to be on an existing line with an existing passenger service, which rules out a lot of possibilities.

I know the criteria of inclusion on the list. Sadly others seem not to

 

[snowball]

Shouldn't this thread be in the Infrastructure & Stations subforum?

 

[plcd1]

Shouldn't this thread be in the Infrastructure & Stations subforum?

I've just posted something there. I'll go and delete it in the expectation that the Mods will shift this thread across.

 

[bunnahabhain]

I've always thought somewhere like Sibsey would be a reasonable candidate for reopening, it probably wouldn't have a decent cost/benefit ratio though.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Well that's the punctuality on the Cambrian well and truly screwed as that sum does not include anything that will compensate for the loss of turn around times at Aberystwyth that the Bow St stop will steal......

 

[The Planner]

Yet you are up for a station at Carno?

 

[Gareth Marston]

Yet you are up for a station at Carno?

This has been the "agreed position" out here since 22 May 2015.

http://sarpa.info/aims.html

7) That track capacity is sufficient to maintain efficiently the punctuality of the service and accommodate an hourly passenger service as well as being able to support freight and charter train movements.

9) The reopening of stations at Bow St (Ceredigion), Carno (Powys) and Hanwood (Shropshire).

The Line Liaison Committee has gone as far to say publicly it will only support extra stations if punctuality is not effected.

Theirs been total radio silence from the promoters of this scheme in Ceredigion CC and Welsh Government as to the effect it will likely have on punctuality. Local Councillors in Ceredigion have totally refused to even discuss the impact.

We've had a good day so far and most trains have had 10 minutes to turn round in Aber but Bow St will steal 6 of them.

 

[The Planner]

6? Doubt it, no more than 4. Its only 60mph along there.

 

[TheNewNo2]

Please don't call it Portway Parkway. That's got to be the worst name ever invented for a station. Portway Park & Ride would be fine. Besides, Bristol already has one Parkway.

 

[Gareth Marston]

6? Doubt it, no more than 4. Its only 60mph along there.

Have you taken into account that either side of Bow St any trains that stop there will get a standing start on approximately a mile and a half of 1 in 75 in both directions?

It's not 60 on the flat.....

 

[Elecman]

I thought the station at St Mellons was supposed to be happening?

 

[PHILIPE]

I thought the station at St Mellons was supposed to be happening?

It is, here:-

http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=150743

Has it's own thread and not funded through DFT

 

[PR1Berske]

Please don't call it Portway Parkway. That's got to be the worst name ever invented for a station. Portway Park & Ride would be fine. Besides, Bristol already has one Parkway.

I did think that when I read the OP this morning. "Portway Parkway" is the kind of name given to a station in a soap opera, there must be something more suitable!

 

[70014IronDuke]

The Line Liaison Committee has gone as far to say publicly it will only support extra stations if punctuality is not effected. ...
.

(sic)
Independent of the scheduling problems, who will use it? Commuters to Aber? Or long distance travellers to Salop, Brum etc? Bow Street has a popn of just 1,900. (source = Wikipedia). Good for Bow Street folk, I suppose - and certainly good for house prices - but it almost seems to be a re-opening "because it's easy" rather than one that can really be justified.

Now Horden/Peterlee on the other hand - I can't believe they didn't open a station here in the 1970s.

 

[Gareth Marston]

(sic)
Independent of the scheduling problems, who will use it? Commuters to Aber? Or long distance travellers to Salop, Brum etc? Bow Street has a popn of just 1,900. (source = Wikipedia). Good for Bow Street folk, I suppose - and certainly good for house prices - but it almost seems to be a re-opening "because it's easy" rather than one that can really be justified.

Now Horden/Peterlee on the other hand - I can't believe they didn't open a station here in the 1970s.

There's an element of showboating in the whole way the scheme is done..."and this years lucky winners are....." Are they part of any wider scheme or plan? If you get a local authority backing it you score bonus points galore and get bumped up the waiting list. You can have a far more deserving scheme but if the local council are apathetic forget it has to get into the Governmental sausage machine.

Ceredigion jumped aboard the bandwagon of reopening a station without really thinking it through or relating it to any wider development plan for the Cambrian.allegedly people will leave their cars in Bow St and commute in to Aberystwyth however the major employers in the town ( all public sector) are not located conveniently for the station there either up a steep hill doubling back toward Bow St or adjacent to the railway line where folk will go past it and then have to walk 10/15 minutes back to get there again heading toward Bow St! It also does nothing about addressing traffic problems to the south of the town along the A487 where the congestion is at its worst.

Whilst car parking at Abertstwyth is very poor there are better solutions in Aberystwyth rather than 4 miles away.

 

[Mugby]

I havn't worked out the average of those prices but it must be about £10million.

It seems an astronomical amount for a couple of platforms, footbridge/ramps and bus shelters.

 

[telstarbox]

Materials are the cheap part.

 

[eastdyke]

I havn't worked out the average of those prices but it must be about £10million.

It seems an astronomical amount for a couple of platforms, footbridge/ramps and bus shelters.

Bow Street is for a single platform on a single line. The cost does seem to include for re-grading a section of wooden sleepered bullhead track from 1 in 300 to 1 in 500.

I am amazed that a car park with 110 spaces is deemed sufficient for a park and ride station which is estimted to have 122,000 pax pa within the design horizon (15 years). Especially as the car park is designed to allow for walkers and cyclists as well as rail pax.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

How many of the Bow Street customers get a free ride ..? - 100% I reckon.

 

[Starmill]

This funding is only about £16m - does that mean there is some left over from the £20m pot?

I thought the station at Portway was just going to be called... Portway. What's wrong with that?

As for Horden, I had no idea they were to bid for money from this. This is probably one of the best cases for a station out there given the huge population that would be within the catchment so well done to them.

Notably these two (and Warrington West) were on the unsuccessful list last time. Is there one this time? Then again, Cranbrook was also unsuccessful last time, and that opened in 2015, and so was Low Moor, which opened earlier this year.

Of course, the main issue with Horden, Bow Street and Reading Green Park is the inadequate hourly service. There are still several 2 hour gaps in services to Aberystwyth. Severn Beach has even fewer services. It seems likely that 2tph could be provided at Warrington West - but the current station at Sankey only receives 1. There is the possiblity of some enhancements already on all of these routes, indeed Aberystwyth recently got quite a significant increase. But I am concerned that building new stations on lines where there are existing stations that have an inadequate service both in terms of frequency and capacity is perhaps not the most wise choice.

Of course, if we stuck to this we might never get any new stations built - we do very few as it is. If only expansion of infrastructure and expansion of service provision could be slightly more linked...

Finally, worth remembering that in addition to the privately funded ones, a station from the last round, Kenilworth, has yet to open (the others, Ilkeston, Newcourt, Lea Bridge and Pye Corner are all open - showing this process does yield results). There are also several stations authorised in Scotland (Robroyston, Kintore, Dalcross - I think?), where this funding does not apply.

On the whole we are doing quite well. Now, can we expect a third round of the New Stations Fund?

 

[Gareth Marston]

How many of the Bow Street customers get a free ride ..? - 100% I reckon.

Again all these impacts on railway operations have been flagged some time ago and seem to fall on death ears, a Ceredigion County Councillor's response was that the "people of Ceredigion are not like that" despite there already being a pre existing problem of ticketless travel between Borth and Aberystwyth.

 

[Gareth Marston]

Bow Street is for a single platform on a single line. The cost does seem to include for re-grading a section of wooden sleepered bullhead track from 1 in 300 to 1 in 500.

I am amazed that a car park with 110 spaces is deemed sufficient for a park and ride station which is estimted to have 122,000 pax pa within the design horizon (15 years). Especially as the car park is designed to allow for walkers and cyclists as well as rail pax.

Ceredigion CC have long coveted "junction improvements" between the A487 and A4152 at the south end of Bow St village but couldn't get the funding from the Highways budget during austerity now low and behold guess where the access to the new station is? That's right off a new roundabout built at the intersection of the A487/A4152 roads - Ceredigion CC have piggy backed their road scheme into this project.

 

[70014IronDuke]

There's an element of showboating in the whole way the scheme is done..."and this years lucky winners are....." Are they part of any wider scheme or plan? If you get a local authority backing it you score bonus points galore and get bumped up the waiting list. You can have a far more deserving scheme but if the local council are apathetic forget it has to get into the Governmental sausage machine.

Ceredigion jumped aboard the bandwagon of reopening a station without really thinking it through or relating it to any wider development plan for the Cambrian.allegedly people will leave their cars in Bow St and commute in to Aberystwyth however the major employers in the town ( all public sector) are not located conveniently for the station there either up a steep hill doubling back toward Bow St or adjacent to the railway line where folk will go past it and then have to walk 10/15 minutes back to get there again heading toward Bow St! It also does nothing about addressing traffic problems to the south of the town along the A487 where the congestion is at its worst.

Whilst car parking at Abertstwyth is very poor there are better solutions in Aberystwyth rather than 4 miles away.

Thanks. Kind of backs up my impression then. It's an easy station to (re-)open, so let's do it - and improve the roads at the same time!

 

[70014IronDuke]

Again all these impacts on railway operations have been flagged some time ago and seem to fall on death ears, a Ceredigion County Councillor's response was that the "people of Ceredigion are not like that" despite there already being a pre existing problem of ticketless travel between Borth and Aberystwyth.

I assume the conductor-guard either does not have time and/or is just to knackered at the end of a run to do a ticket check between Borth and Aber?
If so, obviously, as The Planner suggests, it's going to be 5,000 folks a year buying tickets and 25,000 actually using the service (or some such proportion of freeloaders).

And another point: OK, it's only going to be a one-platform station, but does that mean the platform will mean no chance of re-doubling at some time in the future, should it be needed?

 

[jopsuk]

I havn't worked out the average of those prices but it must be about £10million.

It seems an astronomical amount for a couple of platforms, footbridge/ramps and bus shelters.

Cambridge North was ~£25 million. Most of the station is the current kit of parts seemingly used for new stations and station upgrades, but with a bespoke cladding on it.

But it needed track works, signalling, OHL changes.

 

[eastdyke]

Cambridge North was ~£25 million. Most of the station is the current kit of parts seemingly used for new stations and station upgrades, but with a bespoke cladding on it.

But it needed track works, signalling, OHL changes.

The CambridgeIndependent quotes £44m for Cambridge North:

Built at a cost of £44million, the facilities include a 450 sq m (4,800sq ft) station, comprising a passenger waiting area, toilets, ticket office, retail and amenity space, and staff accommodation.

http://www.cambridgeindependent.co....north-railway-station-finally-opens-1-5027570

Note: There is no 'ticket office'.

 

[Gareth Marston]

I assume the conductor-guard either does not have time and/or is just to knackered at the end of a run to do a ticket check between Borth and Aber?
If so, obviously, as The Planner suggests, it's going to be 5,000 folks a year buying tickets and 25,000 actually using the service (or some such proportion of freeloaders).

And another point: OK, it's only going to be a one-platform station, but does that mean the platform will mean no chance of re-doubling at some time in the future, should it be needed?

Borth to Aberystwyth is a typical short run pay train problem area, too short a time and sometimes too many people plus those that are deliberately looking for a free ride. I have a vague recolection of ticket check after arrival at Aberystwyth by station staff but we're going back to the early 80's! The conductor will have even less time to issue to Borth joiners as they will have to do doors for Bow St.

Arrivals at Aberystwyth already see the doors crowded round by people waiting to join the UP departure and with crew having to change ends theirs no chance to check anyone before they board. Average number of passengers per train was 46 at Aberystwyth a couple of years ago so you can see with just 13 minutes to Borth how difficult in can be which Bow St will just make worse.