Bridlington Station To Go Step-Free
This document on the Government web site is entitled Access for All: 73 Stations Set To Benefit From Additional Funding.
Bridlington station is on the list.
In Bridlington Station – 13th March 2019, I showed this picture, that I had taken on my visit.
The bridge connects the Northbound platform to the Southbound and bay platforms and the main part of the station.
This Google Map shows the location of the existing bridge clearly.
It should obviously be made step-free to make all three platforms easy to access for all travellers.
- Should the old bridge be totally replaced or should new lifts be added?
- Should the bridge be moved from its current position?
- Should the bridge be raised to allow for possible future electrification?
- Should a fsctory-build standard bridge with lifts be instaled in a different position?
In Winner Announced In The Network Rail Footbridge Design Ideas Competition, I wrote how the competition was won by this bridge.
So could a factory-built bridge like this be installed at Bridlington station?
I suspect that it could be fitted on the Western ends of the platforms, leaving the original bridge in place during construction to keep the station open.
After installation of the new bridge, the original bridge could be demolished, shut off or refurbished as appropriate.
Note that the town of Bridlington is getting a makeover.
- New and an increasing number of trains will be calling at Bridlington station to serve residents, commuters and visitors.
- A modern step-free bridge which welcomes travellers to the town or speeds them on their way, could be just the ticket.
I have a feeling this step-free bridge could deliver good value to Bridlington, the train operating companies and travellers to and from the town.
Bridlington Station – 13th March 2019
I took these pictures as I passed through Bridlington station.
There is an interesting comparison to be made with Felixstowe station, that I know well.
- Felixstowe only has one operational platform to Bridlington’s three.
- Bridlington has twice the service and twice the passengers than Felixstowe.
- Both are a walk of ten minutes or so from the actual town centre.
- Both are Grade II Listed
- The towns are of a similar population.
In Bridlington – March 13th 2019, I discussed how Felixstowe could be getting a four trains per hour tram-train service from Ipswich and how a similar service could benefit lots of towns, including Bridlington.
Bridlington – March 13th 2019
I’d never been to Bridlington before and when I passed through on the train, I took these pictures after walking to the sea-front.
It very much reminded me of Felixstowe in the 1960s, although it does have an attractive harbour.
Victorian seaside resorts have been suffering lately, but all seem to have travel problems. Too often, visitors need to drive to the towns and the cars they use to get there are choking up the towns.
I don’t know what the situation is in Bridlington, but there were certainly lots of cars on a sunny, but very breezy day in March.
It has been proposed by the East West Rail Consortium, that my childhood haunt of Felixstowe, be connected to Ipswich by a four trains per hour service using innovative tram-trains. I wrote about the proposal in Roaming Around East Anglia – Could A Tram/Train Run Through Felixstowe?.
So if this type of system is good enough for sleepy Suffolk, surely it is good enough for East Yorkshire to give a similar link between Bridlington and Hull. In Could Hull Become A Tram-Train Terminal?, I laid out how tram-trains could terminate in a loop in Hull City Centre and then serve all the outlying towns.
- Running Between Hull and Bridlington in a tram-train, would take the same time as the current trains.
- As with the current trains, they would stop at all intermediate stations.
- Technologial developments mean that the tram-trains would be electric and would use both overhead wires and battery power.
- At Bridlington, the tram-trains might go walkabout to serve the Town Centre and sea-front directly.
Tram-trains are a technology, that will make transparencies on several branch lines in the UK.
The Anonymous Widower 