Prefabricated stations

[telstarbox]

An interesting article in the Guardian about four pre-fab systems used by British Rail / Network Rail: Mod-X on the Styal Line, Clasp on the Southern Region, D70 around the south east, and two newer systems in the NR era.

Station to station: a spotter’s guide to prefab design on the railways

As a national conversation is launched about the future of local station design, we explore the wonders of prefab design on the railways

www.theguardian.com

 

[yorksrob]

One hopes that the hideous CLASP system doesn't make a comeback !

 

[AndyW33]

Interesting that they either didn't know about or ignored the London & North Western's prefabricated wooden station modules dating back to the 19th century.

 

[ExRes]

An interesting article in the Guardian about four pre-fab systems used by British Rail / Network Rail: Mod-X on the Styal Line, Clasp on the Southern Region, D70 around the south east, and two newer systems in the NR era.

Station to station: a spotter’s guide to prefab design on the railways

As a national conversation is launched about the future of local station design, we explore the wonders of prefab design on the railways

www.theguardian.com

Interesting article, thanks for sharing the link @telstarbox

 

[david1212]

Anything that can reduce the current very high cost of new stations has to be good so long as the buildings are functional, practical, energy efficient and reasonably aesthetic i.e. not looking like a few Portacabins put together and covered with cladding.

 

[Lucan]

Anything that can reduce the current very high cost of new stations has to be good so long as the buildings are functional, practical, energy efficient and reasonably aesthetic i.e. not looking like a few Portacabins put together and covered with cladding.

Your list of requirements sounds like a return to high cost. My list would stop at the word "functional". We have waited for years at least a decade for a new station/halt at the Portway Park and Ride in Bristol, on the Severn Beach Line. While I lived near there I would have been happy with just a platform made from concrete slabs. Maybe also splashing out £1000 for a "bus" shelter on it ans another £1000 on a few street lamps, like more of the ones in the huge existing under-used car park right next to it.

 

[Roger100]

The station recently built at Horden on the Durham Coast Line is pretty minimal. Two platforms to suit 4 cars of Class 156 and a bridge connecting them. The ramps, folded back, ensure step-free access to the platforms but with about 150 metres walk to get from one to another. These take up most of each platform, and there are small shelters for perhaps half-a-dozen people. The shelters seem to be used for drinking, evidenced by empty bottles and cans plus pools of vomit when I visited the station recently. Nowhere else is covered.

There's a large car park - about 110 cars, a ticket machine outside the station, a departure display on each platform, and that's it. But it is a station and is functional. It opened on 29th June 2020 and cost £10.55 million. It can be seen on Google maps:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[sw1ller]

The station recently built at Horden on the Durham Coast Line is pretty minimal. Two platforms to suit 4 cars of Class 156 and a bridge connecting them. The ramps, folded back, ensure step-free access to the platforms but with about 150 metres walk to get from one to another. These take up most of each platform, and there are small shelters for perhaps half-a-dozen people. The shelters seem to be used for drinking, evidenced by empty bottles and cans plus pools of vomit when I visited the station recently. Nowhere else is covered.

There's a large car park - about 110 cars, a ticket machine outside the station, a departure display on each platform, and that's it. But it is a station and is functional. It opened on 29th June 2020 and cost £10.55 million. It can be seen on Google maps:

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

I wonder how much of the £10.55m was taken up by an over engineered bridge? And what the cost of a Red/green crossing would be compared? 6 of these crossings have very recently been commissioned on my routes so it’s not like they’ve stopped installing them over safety concerns. I don’t know if they’re suitable for the line in question but it does seem that, in general, new crossings and stations are not being built due to the huge cost of building a fully accessible bridge. (I’m all for these bridges too, even if they’re an eyesore).

 

[Roger100]

(I’m all for these bridges too, even if they’re an eyesore)

This one is used by disabled locals who had to struggle with buses before.

There is a crossing nearby which has been made more secure with high fences and a gate recently. Enough locals wander across the track elsewhere on this line.

 

[Taunton]

I wonder how much of the £10.55m was taken up by an over engineered bridge?

This station is essentially an accessible overbridge, of the sort you might expect at a TGV station, with some trivial small platforms attached. It appears not to have any buildings, as the term is commonly understood, at all. The "bus shelter" is the prefab sort you find outside some large office back doors nowadays as a smokers' shelter.

Photo here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horde...Station_on_its_opening_day_03,_29-06-2020.jpg

 

[Roger100]

I popped over there at noon and took a few shots, although the sun was still low in the sky and didn't help. The shelters have six 'seats' and room for a couple more to lean and a couple to stand. I suppose that's probably enough room during the day. The car park had 14 cars including mine so plenty of extra capacity, although most extra passengers will have to wait in the rain and gales. The 100m platforms are fine for the DMUs that stop here, maybe you could safely evacuate a 180 unit. But the station is dwarfed by the 9 and 10 car LNER 80x units that have passed this way during the last three weekends of ECML diversions.

The view north of the station shows the crossing, just before the track bends to the east. Not the best place to cross, although there is a phone for phoning a signalman. The whistle board on the end of the platform gives a couple of seconds warning, although I guess it's there for stopping trains and there's another one some distance before.

The platforms are just pre-cast concrete sections and are pretty narrow. Just as well this isn't a fast line.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Is there a specific term for the architectural style used in several West Yorkshire reopenings throughout the 1980s and 1990s- the rudimentary timber-framed platforms and modular shelters (initially stone, later steel and perspex bus shelters)? The PTE managed to open or reopen several stations for relatively little financial outlay even adjusted for inflation. Admittedly most of the early ones were far from accessible, as they weren't required to be at the time.

 

[billio]

The Guardian article mentioned a public consultation.
Network Rail and Design Council have launched ExploreStation – a national conversation about the future of UK local station design. Learn more about the initiative, and sign up for the next round of public engagement in May.

And mentions a book which is available online through Issuu. I have not read it but it has more photographs and information than the article.

HUB: Making places for people and trains, photography by Luke O’Donovan; text by David Lawrence is published by Network Rail

 

[GusB]

An interesting article in the Guardian about four pre-fab systems used by British Rail / Network Rail: Mod-X on the Styal Line, Clasp on the Southern Region, D70 around the south east, and two newer systems in the NR era.

Station to station: a spotter’s guide to prefab design on the railways

As a national conversation is launched about the future of local station design, we explore the wonders of prefab design on the railways

www.theguardian.com

Thanks for sharing this. My local station (Elgin) had a rather boxy pre-fab thing that replaced the original Highland Railway building; why that was replaced, I'm not entirely sure. I had thought about it as a modelling project at some point in the future but so far I have been unable to find any photographs of it online; perhaps it was considered to be so ugly that no photographer ever wanted to have it in the background!

It was only when I was browsing the Scalescenes website that I noted that their CLASP model bore a remarkable similarity - from what I can remember, anyway.

https://scalescenes.com/product/r003c-clasp-modular-building/

One hopes that the hideous CLASP system doesn't make a comeback !

At the time it was introduced it would have been all shiny and modern, though. I wonder if there's much of it still around - I'm guessing it may well have contained all sorts of hideous stuff like asbestos.

 

[yorksrob]

At the time it was introduced it would have been all shiny and modern, though. I wonder if there's much of it still around - I'm guessing it may well have contained all sorts of hideous stuff like asbestos.

Even for the 60's/70's the style looked like a concrete high rise. There are still a couple dotted around disfiguring the network.

 

[edwin_m]

I wonder how much of the £10.55m was taken up by an over engineered bridge? And what the cost of a Red/green crossing would be compared? 6 of these crossings have very recently been commissioned on my routes so it’s not like they’ve stopped installing them over safety concerns. I don’t know if they’re suitable for the line in question but it does seem that, in general, new crossings and stations are not being built due to the huge cost of building a fully accessible bridge. (I’m all for these bridges too, even if they’re an eyesore).

I'm expecting these will be red/green lights added to crossings that didn't have any before, not new crossings or removal of bridges. A new level crossing is pretty much inconceivable these days.

Foot crossings at stations are probably more dangerous than those elsewhere, for several reasons:

• About half the people boarding and alighting will need to use the crossing, more if the ticket office/machine is only on one side, so useage of station crossings is likely to be high unless the station is very quiet.
• People may be hurrying to catch a train and more at risk because that train is likely to be arriving about the same time they are crossing.
• Passengers may be crossing just in front of the train they have alighted from, with increased risk of collision if the train starts to move (for example if the driver thinks they are leaving the platform by a different route and they unexpectedly turn onto the track).
• There is also the risk of passengers focusing on an obvious stopped train in the platform, and unaware that it may be hiding another train moving at speed on the track beyond.

Two teenagers killed at Elsenham show how hazardous these crossings can be - included in a wider RAIB investigation into station crossings: https://www.gov.uk/raib-reports/inv...g-pedestrian-gates-at-highway-level-crossings

To get back closer to topic, I'm aware of a couple of projects NR is sponsoring to develop lower-cost prefabricated station footbridges.

 

[Dr Hoo]

To get back closer to topic, I'm aware of a couple of projects NR is sponsoring to develop lower-cost prefabricated station footbridges.

Haven't all footbridges been pre-fabricated for decades? Surely nobody would 'build' a bridge brick-by-brick or plank-by-plank, on site these days (except, perhaps, on a heritage railway).

The decks, steps, ramps, lift shafts and whatever seem to turn up ready-made on the back of lorries (often under Exceptional Load conditions) and are craned into position by mobile plant, with just a bit of bolting up and wiring connection to do.

 

[edwin_m]

Haven't all footbridges been pre-fabricated for decades? Surely nobody would 'build' a bridge brick-by-brick or plank-by-plank, on site these days (except, perhaps, on a heritage railway).

The decks, steps, ramps, lift shafts and whatever seem to turn up ready-made on the back of lorries (often under Exceptional Load conditions) and are craned into position by mobile plant, with just a bit of bolting up and wiring connection to do.

They are indeed. The project I was a little involved in was about improving on the existing ones with better design and construction techniques.

 

[sw1ller]

I'm expecting these will be red/green lights added to crossings that didn't have any before, not new crossings or removal of bridges. A new level crossing is pretty much inconceivable these days.

Foot crossings at stations are probably more dangerous than those elsewhere, for several reasons:

• About half the people boarding and alighting will need to use the crossing, more if the ticket office/machine is only on one side, so useage of station crossings is likely to be high unless the station is very quiet.
• People may be hurrying to catch a train and more at risk because that train is likely to be arriving about the same time they are crossing.
• Passengers may be crossing just in front of the train they have alighted from, with increased risk of collision if the train starts to move (for example if the driver thinks they are leaving the platform by a different route and they unexpectedly turn onto the track).
• There is also the risk of passengers focusing on an obvious stopped train in the platform, and unaware that it may be hiding another train moving at speed on the track beyond.

Two teenagers killed at Elsenham show how hazardous these crossings can be - included in a wider RAIB investigation into station crossings: https://www.gov.uk/raib-reports/inv...g-pedestrian-gates-at-highway-level-crossings

To get back closer to topic, I'm aware of a couple of projects NR is sponsoring to develop lower-cost prefabricated station footbridges.

2 of the 6 are brand new. No crossing was there before (in recent times, wether one was there 30 years ago I don’t know). A 7th is planned soon too, this will be one near Deganwy which isn’t there now but has been in the past dues to strong local complaints about the removal of the previous one.

 

[Snow1964]

In addition to dreadful clasp buildings, I think the Southern region also had a standard footbridge, which just seems to use couple of rolled steel H beams with a kink as legs that were installed in many locations about 50 years ago.

Here is a photo of one (at Sway), not sure when it was installed but probably at round time of Bournemouth line electrification 1965-67

Sway Railway Station New Forest Hampshire UK Platform Footbridge Tracks Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: Sway Railway Station New Forest Hampshire UK Platform Footbridge Tracks - BTC67E from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

www.alamy.com

 

[Pigeon]

At the time it was introduced it would have been all shiny and modern, though. I wonder if there's much of it still around - I'm guessing it may well have contained all sorts of hideous stuff like asbestos.

I haven't heard that cited as either a reason for demolishing instances of it or as a problem encountered while doing so. I think the time it was designed was around the same as the time they started fretting about asbestos, so it probably wouldn't have been too likely to have any in.

Nice enough buildings to be inside, at any rate; most of York University is made of it and the CLASP buildings are definitely nicer than the extra non-CLASP bits they added on later.

 

[yorksrob]

In addition to dreadful clasp buildings, I think the Southern region also had a standard footbridge, which just seems to use couple of rolled steel H beams with a kink as legs that were installed in many locations about 50 years ago.

Here is a photo of one (at Sway), not sure when it was installed but probably at round time of Bournemouth line electrification 1965-67

Sway Railway Station New Forest Hampshire UK Platform Footbridge Tracks Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: Sway Railway Station New Forest Hampshire UK Platform Footbridge Tracks - BTC67E from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

www.alamy.com

I'm surprised they didn't put in an Exmouth junction concrete job, as with the Kent electrification scheme (I'm quite fond of those).

 

[Timmyd]

Really interesting article. Not sure I share the hatred for the Clasp design. They’ve proved remarkably resilient in some tough locations and the stations like West Norwood and Forest Hill have lasted very well for getting on for 50 years. It’s all about how they’re maintained and also having staff around, adding coffee stands etc - they’ll last a lot better than many later models I’d wager

 

[Gloster]

In addition to dreadful clasp buildings, I think the Southern region also had a standard footbridge, which just seems to use couple of rolled steel H beams with a kink as legs that were installed in many locations about 50 years ago.

Here is a photo of one (at Sway), not sure when it was installed but probably at round time of Bournemouth line electrification 1965-67

Sway Railway Station New Forest Hampshire UK Platform Footbridge Tracks Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: Sway Railway Station New Forest Hampshire UK Platform Footbridge Tracks - BTC67E from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

www.alamy.com

I think the footbridge is an LSWR standard design that predates the Exmouth Junction concrete ones. It may date from the late nineteenth century, despite its modern appearance. Will check.

 

[yorksrob]

Really interesting article. Not sure I share the hatred for the Clasp design. They’ve proved remarkably resilient in some tough locations and the stations like West Norwood and Forest Hill have lasted very well for getting on for 50 years. It’s all about how they’re maintained and also having staff around, adding coffee stands etc - they’ll last a lot better than many later models I’d wager

Is also that they've often replaced much more attractive station buildings with better platform cover. Wokingham springs to mind.

 

[davetheguard]

Is also that they've often replaced much more attractive station buildings with better platform cover. Wokingham springs to mind.

The CLASP buildings at Wokingham have now themselves been replaced by a (larger) modern building.

I don't think CLASP was just a Southern Region thing, was it? Oxford, for instance was one example before it was replaced by the present station buildings. The late 1960s platform canopies leaked like a sieve.

 

[Recessio]

At the time it was introduced it would have been all shiny and modern, though. I wonder if there's much of it still around - I'm guessing it may well have contained all sorts of hideous stuff like asbestos.

Indeed they did - my old local station East Grinstead got demolished after a routine* inspection found it was riddled with asbestos and also needed a shed load of other remedial work. Combined with the Bluebell Railway being based there, we got given a shiny new Network Rail prefab about ten years ago that is honestly far better.

*guessing it wasn't that routine if it took them 40 years to find the asbestos, or otherwise they weren't doing a very thorough inspection!