Work starts on new station at Bow Street

Phil from Mon · 13 Jan 2020

The BBC are reporting that work is starting on the new station at Bow Street on the Cambrian line. It is scheduled to open later this year.
Work on £8m railway station at Bow Street gets under way

Work is getting under way to build a new railway station that will see trains call at a Welsh village for the first time in 55 years.
The new Bow Street station in Ceredigion is costing about £8m - funded by the Welsh Government and the UK's Department for Transport.
It is due to open later in 2020, served by Cambrian Line trains between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury.
It follows a vocal campaign over the last decade to reopen the station.
Wales' Transport Minister Ken Skates said: "Our vision for railways includes the opening of new stations and the improvement of connectivity across all regions in Wales.
"This is the beginning of delivering that ambition."
The original station was closed as part of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s that saw the rail network in Wales decimated.
The new station will be built south of the old site, which is now home to a builders' merchant.
The scheme is being delivered by Transport for Wales (TfW), Network Rail and Ceredigion council.
TfW chief executive James Price said it was the first station the organisation was building since taking over the Wales and Borders rail service.
"We've committed to at least five further schemes, demonstrating our commitment to investing in connecting communities throughout Wales to the rail network," he said.
Claire Williams, a community rail officer at Ceredigion council, said: "The Bow Street Interchange project will make the railway more accessible for passengers from all over the county as well as reducing the amount of congestion on the roads within the area, therefore reducing the carbon emissions which of course is fundamentally better for the environment."
Ceredigion councillor Paul Hinge said the new station was the "culmination of years of hard work" and would restore a "vital facility" on the west Wales coast.

RailUK Forums

Cambrian359 · 13 Jan 2020

I thought work had already started! Surprised to see it hadn’t when I seen this article! What length trains can the platform accommodate?

Llandudno · 13 Jan 2020

£8million for a single platform at an unstaffed station.

Be interesting to see BCR on that one!

Oxfordblues · 13 Jan 2020

Shut down by Labour Minister of Transport Thomas Fraser who authorised the closure of 1,071 miles of essential railways and hundreds of stations, most of which he never visited. He died in 1988 and never apologised for his actions.

Bletchleyite · 13 Jan 2020

Llandudno said:
£8million for a single platform at an unstaffed station.

Be interesting to see BCR on that one!

It's quite outrageously expensive. How can it cost more to build a simple single platform and very little else than, say, a row of houses?

krus_aragon · 13 Jan 2020

Bletchleyite said:
It's quite outrageously expensive. How can it cost more to build a simple single platform and very little else than, say, a row of houses?

It was billed on the radio (Radio Cymru) this morning as part of an integrated transport hub, so there may be a bit of bus-related spending in there too.

bluenoxid · 13 Jan 2020

You’ve probably spent over a million by this point on “paperwork”. Everything from the business case (several levels), detailed design and a construction plan. There will be environmental plans and consultations. As you are working on a live railway with relatively high requirements, your surveys have to be top notch.

I understand groundwork’s have also started. Hire of the equipment and skilled manpower is not cheap. Everything needs to be spot on with materials exchanged appropriately and drainage installed.

The platform is being built by a live railway line so that will add to costs. There will be night working to deliver many of the items that are close to the platform-train interface.

The car park and bus interchange are not cheap. They all require substantial input to construct, particularly as people get really upset if their car disappears down a sink hole.

Belperpete · 13 Jan 2020

Bletchleyite said:
It's quite outrageously expensive. How can it cost more to build a simple single platform and very little else than, say, a row of houses?

The line between Dovey Junction and Aberystwyth is very heavily utilised, so getting a possession to do any major civil engineering work right next to the line must be very difficult. How much would it cost to build a row of houses if the builders could only work a few hours at a time overnight, or over Christmas or Easter?

Bletchleyite · 13 Jan 2020

Belperpete said:
The line between Dovey Junction and Aberystwyth is very heavily utilised, so getting a possession to do any major civil engineering work right next to the line must be very difficult. How much would it cost to build a row of houses if the builders could only work a few hours at a time overnight, or over Christmas or Easter?

Very heavily utilised? Compared with what? It's a country single track branch line with a train once an hour and a long gap overnight.

ChiefPlanner · 13 Jan 2020

Bletchleyite said:
Very heavily utilised? Compared with what? It's a country single track branch line with a train once an hour and a long gap overnight.

Trains run 0520-to about 2230 , so allowing possession set up times you have something like 2330 to 0430 to work in , not exactly the Northern line in London - but a bare 5 hours to work in. Also the Sunday services work a much longer day than they used to - 08xx from Aber (ECS from Mach) and a finish time not much later than Mon - Saturday.

Of course , this being the deeply rural part of the world (though not as rural as parts of Scotland) , any special heavy engineering plant and human resources almost invariably may well have to brought in.

(not like the 1970's , when you had no Sunday service and 2 hour gaps in the daily timetable. Thankfully.

Glenn1969 · 13 Jan 2020

Trains serve Borth station from 0508 to 2345. However this week the last train both ways is replaced by a bus

Mogster · 13 Jan 2020

Llandudno said:
£8million for a single platform at an unstaffed station.

Be interesting to see BCR on that one!

As the nearby village houses 2000 people that’s £4000 each...

Belperpete · 13 Jan 2020

Bletchleyite said:
Very heavily utilised? Compared with what? It's a country single track branch line with a train once an hour and a long gap overnight.

Dovey Junction to Aberystwyth is one single-line section that is almost continually occupied by a train either going to or coming back from Aberystwyth.

Llandudno · 14 Jan 2020

krus_aragon said:
It was billed on the radio (Radio Cymru) this morning as part of an integrated transport hub, so there may be a bit of bus-related spending in there too.

‘Integrated transport hub’ with what buses exactly, presumably the same buses that serve Aberystwyth and Machynlleth stations!

Meanwhile in North Wales no attempt is made to coordinate buses with trains at Llandudno Junction where a myriad of different bus services radiate from. In fact most bus services now bypass the station.

Bungle965 · 14 Jan 2020

Llandudno said:
‘Integrated transport hub’ with what buses exactly, presumably the same buses that serve Aberystwyth and Machynlleth stations!

Meanwhile in North Wales no attempt is made to coordinate buses with trains at Llandudno Junction where a myriad of different bus services radiate from. In fact most bus services now bypass the station.

Similar to when I visited Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway, the bus stop outside the station no longer serves any buses, unfortunately you will this kind of bad integration throughout the country.
Sam

Bletchleyite · 14 Jan 2020

Belperpete said:
Dovey Junction to Aberystwyth is one single-line section that is almost continually occupied by a train either going to or coming back from Aberystwyth.

It's also a line you could bustitute relatively easily (obviouly not from Dyfi, but from Mach). So put buses on for say 2 months and build it all in one go? Do it in winter and you avoid a lot of the traffic. If you can put an office building up in that time, you can put the part of a station up that is adjacent to the running line. The rest of it like the car park has no bearing on the traffic on the line at all.

Borth is a bit awkward as it's not on the main road but could be a shuttle bus (or taxi on demand if cheaper) from Aberystwyth.

adrock1976 · 14 Jan 2020

Has any provision been provided for future double track (or a passing loop) at Bow Street or anywhere else along the Machynlleth - Aberystwyth section?

ChiefPlanner · 14 Jan 2020

adrock1976 said:
Has any provision been provided for future double track (or a passing loop) at Bow Street or anywhere else along the Machynlleth - Aberystwyth section?

Historically there were loops at Bow Street , Llandre and Borth.

Aberystwyth to Llanbadarn was double track - I very much doubt that the "footprints" of these bits of infrastructure have been intruded on.

All were rationalised out in the mid to late 1960's. (as traffic fell and freight largely dissapeared)

The line enjoys the best ever "regular" service it ever has , and I would suspect that it as at optimum level. The new rolling stock to replace the 158's , will no doubt have superior acceleration to assist section to section timekeeping. I stand to be corrected of course by local or other genuine experts or operators.

The Planner · 14 Jan 2020

Bletchleyite said:
It's also a line you could bustitute relatively easily (obviouly not from Dyfi, but from Mach). So put buses on for say 2 months and build it all in one go? Do it in winter and you avoid a lot of the traffic. If you can put an office building up in that time, you can put the part of a station up that is adjacent to the running line. The rest of it like the car park has no bearing on the traffic on the line at all.

Borth is a bit awkward as it's not on the main road but could be a shuttle bus (or taxi on demand if cheaper) from Aberystwyth.

I suspect it was considered and put to TfW and local stakeholders. If one of them said no to TfW or TfW said no to NR then there isnt much that can be done.

The Planner · 14 Jan 2020

ChiefPlanner said:
The line enjoys the best ever "regular" service it ever has , and I would suspect that it as at optimum level. The new rolling stock to replace the 158's , will no doubt have superior acceleration to assist section to section timekeeping. I stand to be corrected of course by local or other genuine experts or operators.

The ERTMS installation and infrastructure upgrades (Fron, Tallerdig etc) were built to deliver a timetable with not a lot else. Which is why Carno etc don't work but Bow St does.

Bletchleyite · 14 Jan 2020

ChiefPlanner said:
The new rolling stock to replace the 158's , will no doubt have superior acceleration to assist section to section timekeeping. I stand to be corrected of course by local or other genuine experts or operators.

Yes, it very much will. Northern's CAF stock has build issues and the likes, but you can never accuse it of being slow off the mark - on Sprinter timings they arrive early all the time.

ChiefPlanner · 14 Jan 2020

The Planner said:
The ERTMS installation and infrastructure upgrades (Fron, Tallerdig etc) were built to deliver a timetable with not a lot else. Which is why Carno etc don't work but Bow St does.

Of course , Bow Street being "clear" of the interfaces on the "main" section twixt Mach and Sutton Bridge Junction. Never personally agreed with Carno , - but it is now a devolved matter ! ...

I look back with amazement that a line that almost died in the 1970's (Barmouth Bridge ,serious washouts between Ynyslas and Glandyfi) , very indifferent stock , tiny and unprofitable general goods traffic 3 times a week and now you have an hourly (air con and Wifi'd) 158 to Birmingham International. And well used ....

ChiefPlanner · 14 Jan 2020

The Planner said:
I suspect it was considered and put to TfW and local stakeholders. If one of them said no to TfW or TfW said no to NR then there isnt much that can be done.

You could (mini) bus Borth to Aberystwyth direct - not the best of roads - but rail / bus transfer in the Savin built terrace of "metropolitan" Borth would not go down well in the late evenings !

(Savin was the driver for the Aberystwyth and Welsh Coast Railway , plus what became the University College Aberystwyth - he did not prosper , but left a good legacy)

ChiefPlanner · 14 Jan 2020

Bletchleyite said:
Yes, it very much will. Northern's CAF stock has build issues and the likes, but you can never accuse it of being slow off the mark - on Sprinter timings they arrive early all the time.

That is what I like to hear - (Bit like a Manor Class 4-6-0 then , going home with a Mach or Aber crew !!!!)

pdeaves · 14 Jan 2020

adrock1976 said:
Has any provision been provided for future double track (or a passing loop) at Bow Street or anywhere else along the Machynlleth - Aberystwyth section?

I suspect it's deliberately designed not to preclude future works (which I suppose is a step below 'passive provision').

Llanigraham · 14 Jan 2020

Bletchleyite said:
It's also a line you could bustitute relatively easily (obviouly not from Dyfi, but from Mach). So put buses on for say 2 months and build it all in one go? Do it in winter and you avoid a lot of the traffic. If you can put an office building up in that time, you can put the part of a station up that is adjacent to the running line. The rest of it like the car park has no bearing on the traffic on the line at all.

Borth is a bit awkward as it's not on the main road but could be a shuttle bus (or taxi on demand if cheaper) from Aberystwyth.

Frankly that shows how little you know of the area.
For a start bustitution is not easy around here because there aren't the bus companies to do it, and what there are, are busy with other jobs. And whilst bus loading is easy at Aber it isn't at Machy, and can cause congestion on the narrow road by the station.
Then there is the fact that a bus journey between Aber and Machy takes longer than the train because the roads are not brilliant, and I'm intrigued how you intend to run a shuttle bus from Borth; where do you expect it to meet up? And why ignore Dovey Junction?
Less traffic? You might think so but I can assure you that the amount of traffic along that road is not very seasonal and during term time Penglais Rd can be very busy.
And funnily enough it appears that the area that will be the car park and bus interchange is being used for their site offices, stores etc, so it is relevant.

ChiefPlanner · 16 Jan 2020

Llanigraham said:
Frankly that shows how little you know of the area.
For a start bustitution is not easy around here because there aren't the bus companies to do it, and what there are, are busy with other jobs. And whilst bus loading is easy at Aber it isn't at Machy, and can cause congestion on the narrow road by the station.
Then there is the fact that a bus journey between Aber and Machy takes longer than the train because the roads are not brilliant, and I'm intrigued how you intend to run a shuttle bus from Borth; where do you expect it to meet up? And why ignore Dovey Junction?
Less traffic? You might think so but I can assure you that the amount of traffic along that road is not very seasonal and during term time Penglais Rd can be very busy.
And funnily enough it appears that the area that will be the car park and bus interchange is being used for their site offices, stores etc, so it is relevant.

Nothing beats a bit of local knowledge .....

I just hope that some attempt is made at revenue protection - a part time am barrier staff at Aberystywth would be perfect , as otherwise this investment will be negated by "free rides" as the Conductors (good that they are down there) , will struggle to sell on board in the limited time available. It should do well with the development down there over the last 50 years ! , and parking in Aber is a nightmare of the highest level.

Work starts on new station at Bow Street

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