A Rebuilt Station For Guildford
It is has just been posted on Modern Railways, that Guildford station is to be redeveloped. The report is subtitled.
£150m investment at no cost to tax or fare payer
I think we’ll see a lot more developments like this, where everybody wins. In Guildford’s case, this means a new station building, a transport hub, 445 new homes and 1,600 sq. metres of office space. It also claims 300 jobs will be created.
Look at this aerial view of the station.
Guildford Station
The development is to use surplus land around the station. There seems to be a lot of that and a lot of space devoted to car parking.
So an imaginative development would be an improvement. I would like to see homes and offices developed over the station.
Underneath The Shard
The space between Thameslink and the Shard has been tidied up a lot, as the pictures show.
All is now ready for a start to be made on the next phase of the rebuilding of London Bridge station.
Wikipedia has a section on rebuilding the station.
This link shows the final platform layout. It’s very different to what platforms were used in the past and are now.
But hopefully, it’ll be all right on the night!
A Station With A New Bridge, But No Facilities
At the present time, Strood station is being improved but it does strike me that the planning of this project, is not up to the usual standard.
I didn’t take a picture of the problem, but this busy station may have a bridge, that gives good access for all, but on the day I used the station, the ticket office was closed and the single ticket machine couldn’t cope and a long queue had developed. One harassed member of staff was trying to deal with the problem of those unfamiliar with the machine.
I arrived with plenty of time to catch the 12:35 back to London, but by the time I got my ticket, the train was pulling out of the station. So I had to wait thirty minutes on the rather cold platforms.
Surely South Eastern could have rustled up an extra member of staff with a hand machine, to help passengers get on the trains.
A few signs and a clean up of the tunnel would have helped too!
Is this the way that companies treat everybody in Rochester and Strood?
If it is, it’s no wonder that they voted for the kippers!
An Impressive Set Of Bridges
Rochester Bridge is a set of four bridges that carries the A2 road, the railway and various services over the River Medway.
I liked it a lot. But where was the information by the bridge, describing it for those that walked past?
A Solution To The Tea Bag Problem
In Rochester High Street, I had a very nice cup of tea in a cafe called Dot Cafe. What a good name for a cafe with good internet and wi-fi.
As you can see milk was served alongside in a small wider jug, which was an ideal place to put the teabag. The lady in charge said that was what you did!
A simple idea that solves a messy problem! Perhaps you could put some words on the jug like “Milk – After The Teabag”
Nigel Was Here!
I took this photo outside a pub on Rochester High Street!
Nigel Was Here!
Yuck!
Although the High Street was generally tidy, there were places with a bit of an air of being run-down.
In some ways you can understand, why they voted for the kippers.
Walking Between Rochester And Strood Stations
I took the South Eastern Class 395 and explored Rochester.
I walked along the High Street, visited the cathedral, castle and the museum before crossing the Rochester Bridge to get the train home from Strood.
Stratford And Its Two Stations
I couldn’t resist looking at the map of Stratford upon Avon and its two stations.
Stratford And Its Stations
Parkway is in the top left and the town centre station is marked by the arrow. The centre of the town is in the bottom right.
All this map does is ask a lot of questions!
I think some will be solved, when the main station is complete and hopefully is getting more trains from London and Birmingham.
But this will need some more Class 172 trains to be rustled up for Chiltern Trains and London Midland.
So the question gets more complex!
Return From Stratford Parkway Station
Because I thought time was short, I decided to take a taxi to Stratford upon Avon Parkway station to come home.
But somewhere I’d got the time wrong and had to wait an hour for my train, in a cold, unwelcoming station without a toilet. And then when I did get on the train, the main toilet was broken!
It is certainly a station that was built down to a cost, that would be unlikely to win any architectural awards.
There should be a rethink about how this station operates.
Stratford Upon Avon Station Is Getting A Facelift
Stratford upon Avon station was very much in a state of flux as I passed through.
But as it is a busy station with lots of tourists, I would suspect that Network Rail have got their priorities right.
If you look at the services to Stratford, they are a bit thin, as giving the importance of the town and the nearby parkway station, you might think that more services could be supported.
Perhaps the station improvements are part of a plan to increase the number of trains.
Wikipedia talks about possible future development, which would link the line to the Cotswold Line, thus giving Stratford direct links to lots of other places.
The Anonymous Widower 
