Anniesland 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.
Anniesland station is on the list.
The Services shown in Wikipedia are comprehensive and numerous considering that the station has just two through platforms and a bay platform.
These pictures are of the station.
This Google Map shows the layout of the station.
Note.
- The two main Glasgow stations are to the North.
- The two through platforms are numbered 1 and 2 and go under the footbridge in the middle of the image.
- The bay platform is to the North of the station building and is mainly served by a shuttle to Glasgow Queen Street station. I wrote about this shuttle in Anniesland And Glasgow Queen Street Via Maryhill In A Class 230 Train.
In Winner Announced In The Network Rail Footbridge Design Ideas Competition, I wrote how the competition was won by this bridge.
Could a factory-built bridge like this be used at Anniesland station?
I suspect it will be possible, but the site is rather cramped!
Conclusion
A step-free footbridge would make the lot of passengers changing between platforms 1 and 3 much better.
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.
Stowmarket 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.
Stowmarket station is on the list.
In Roaming Around East Anglia – Stowmarket Station, I said this.
The station is Grade II Listed, has the capability to handle the long London-Norwich expresses and probably only needs a step-free footbridge to be ready for the East-West Rail Link.
This picture shows the bridge.
Step-free access would create an easy interchange between stations.
- On the Great East Main Line between Stowmarket and Norwich.
- On the East-West Rail Link between Stowmarket and Cambridge/Peterborough and further West.
Journeys like between Diss and Bury St. Edmunds, Newmarket, Cambridge and Peterborough will be so much easier.
Greater Anglia is already planning to increase services on both routes, so the step-free bridge will be well used.
Installing Step-Free Access
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 Stowmarket station?
- I think this could be possible, if the existing bridge were to be removed.
- At least there is a level crossing by the station, which could be used as an emergency means of crossing the railway.
I very much favour this approach. which surely could be installed on a weekend possession.
Hackney Downs 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.
Hackney Downs station, which I use regularly is on the list.
In Is Hackney Downs Station A Suitable Case For Treatment?, I mused at the possibilities for the station, after a chance meeting with an architect, surveyor or planner from Transport for London at the station, who had just had a look behind the locked doors at the station.
Let’s hope that if there is something worth preserving behind those forbidding brick walls!
Other than the obvious step-free access, my ideas for the station would include.
- Better use of the rooms on the platforms.
- A couple of enclosed waiting rooms.
- Improved bus stop locations.
- A light-controlled crossing outside the station.
But the biggest opportunities would surely be opened up, if London Overground’s services were reorganised.
At present, the station has the following services in trains per hour (tph)
- Liverpool Street and Chesthunt – two tph
- Liverpool Street and Chingford – four tph
- Liverpool Street and Enfield Town – two tph
Plans also exist to increase the Enfield Town services to four tph.
These are not overly high frequency services compared to some services in London.
In Could London Overground Extend To Hertford East Station?, I speculated on a rumour that Hertford East services would be given to the London Overground.
If this does happen, I believe that some local services would have to terminate in the High Meads Loop under the Eastfield shopping centre at Stratford.
In the other post I say this.
If as I proposed the following trains run through Seven Sisters station.
- Two tph between Liverpool Street and Cheshunt/Broxbourne or Hertford East.
- Two tph between Stratford and Cheshunt/Broxbourne or Hertford East.
- Two tph between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town.
- Two tph between Stratford and Enfield Town.
This means that Hackney Downs would have the following services.
- Two tph between Liverpool Street and Cheshunt/Broxbourne or Hertford East.
- Two tph between Liverpool Street and Enfield Town.
- Four tph between Liverpool Street and Chingford.
Would it not be more efficient, if all of these services used the slow tracks into Liverpool Street?
This would give the expresses exclusive use of the fast lines into Liverpool Street.
It’s probably a naive analysis, but I believe services at Hackney Downs station could well include regular services between Liverpool Street and Broxbourne/Hertford East.
Conclusion
Step-free access at Hackney Downs station could be part of a package, that sees extra services and destinations added to the station.
The Anonymous Widower 