Breich - Public Consultation on Station Closure

[Kite159]

The station will close this weekend for 12 weeks (will anyone notice?) while they spend/waste £2.4m upgrading it for OHLE. At least they are taking the advice of the previous poster and replacing the bridge with graded ramps up to the road.

Info from @shottslineelec

That might explain why the service isn't calling there tomorrow, seemed a bit odd when I looked it up (I was hoping to go for a little walk from Fauldhouse to board the afternoon train)

 

[tbtc]

Two and a half million quid, for the sake of keeping open a station that sees less than one return journey a week (despite services every week day)?

There are no words...

 

[snowball]

Two and a half million quid, for the sake of keeping open a station that sees less than one return journey a week (despite services every week day)?

There are no words...

I hope they make it clear to everyboy that it's the minister's fault.

 

[haggishunter]

I hope they make it clear to everyboy that it's the minister's fault.

This is more the fault of what games the unionist opposition parties would play in Holyrood if the Scottish Ministers authorised closure. It would be one of the rare occasions where the actual policy interests of the Greens would align with the unionist parties desire to defeat the SNP in parliament. Ministers announce closure, opposition get a vote in parliament on station closure, minsters lose vote in same way they lost the vote on the desperately needed reform of the governance of Highlands and Islands Enterprise when every opposition party voted against change.

 

[Kite159]

With that amount of money being spent on the station I hope it gets a better service, otherwise it will be like Ascott on the Cotswolds line, a bit of money to build a 2nd platform to see one train a day call there.

 

[snowball]

There's now a press release about it:

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/feeds/breich-station-closure-is-platform-for-2-4m-redevelopment/

Breich station will close for 12 weeks from Saturday 23 June as part of the work to electrify the Shotts line between Edinburgh and Glasgow Central.


The West Lothian station will undergo a £2.4m redevelopment to ensure that the platform lengths and heights are compliant with the electrified railway environment and suitable for the new longer electric trains that will be introduced on the route.

As well as work to the platforms, the redevelopment will see the creation of a new ramped footpath to the Edinburgh bound platform on the north side of the station with the embankments and access ramp on the south side being re-profiled to make it easier for customers to get in and out of the station.

Improvements to lighting and CCTV and enhancements to customer information systems, ticket machines, validators and waiting shelters will also be delivered at the station with work set to complete by the end of October.

The station redevelopment is part of a £160m Scottish government-funded investment to upgrade and electrify the line to improve reliability and enable the introduction of electric trains on the route by March 2019.

Brian Mallon, Network Rail programme manager for the Shotts Line Electrification project, said: “We know that closings stations is never a popular choice for passengers but in this case, it is the most efficient way to deliver the work while trains continue to operate on the line and carry passengers to and from the nearby stations.

“Redeveloping Breich station is part of a wider programme of station upgrades on the route being delivered during the electrification project to enable the introduction of new faster, longer trains.

“It is important that we have stations that are safe and compliant in the newly electrified railway environment but also that provide a better overall experience for passengers using the railway.

“We appreciate the cooperation of the local community and thank them for their patience as we deliver this investment to upgrade the railway.”

It's not clear from that what works, if any, are needed to meet regulations relating to electrification.

 

[Altnabreac]

Real shame they haven’t moved the station to the village. Missed opportunity to at least make the station more useful.

 

[Trackbedjolly]

There can't any business case for moving the station and they can't just lift it off the site and move it. A station on a different site would have involved a complete new build which requires planning permission etc. and cost maybe (plucking a figure out of the air) £6-8m?
My concern is that by diverting passengers on to the highway bridge to cross the lines they are creating a precedent for other such stations. Is this scheme really DDA compliant when a wheelchair user has to move along the edge of a public highway on a narrow bridge?
Apart from that does anyone know if the parking area is to be retained in this rebuild?

 

[najaB]

Is this scheme really DDA compliant...

Yes. A reasonable adjustment has been made, which is what the law requires.

 

[NotATrainspott]

There can't any business case for moving the station and they can't just lift it off the site and move it. A station on a different site would have involved a complete new build which requires planning permission etc. and cost maybe (plucking a figure out of the air) £6-8m?
My concern is that by diverting passengers on to the highway bridge to cross the lines they are creating a precedent for other such stations. Is this scheme really DDA compliant when a wheelchair user has to move along the edge of a public highway on a narrow bridge?
Apart from that does anyone know if the parking area is to be retained in this rebuild?

The Street View photos from the A71 are newer than on the bridge itself and seem to show a perfectly standard pavement width and finishing on the station side. If a PRM needs wider than that, then Breich station is the least of their problems.

Using an existing highway bridge isn't any great problem anyway. There are plenty of stations where the only cross-platform access is via the public highway. This isn't an interchange station where passengers will use more than one platform. Either way you're going to be entering or exiting the public highway, so having a direct route to/from both platforms is hardly a major slight. There's no ticket office or other facilities either to encourage people to cross platforms.

 

[najaB]

The Street View photos from the A71 are newer than on the bridge itself...

Link: https://goo.gl/maps/qaH5BbTa1EE2

 

[Altnabreac]

There can't any business case for moving the station and they can't just lift it off the site and move it. A station on a different site would have involved a complete new build which requires planning permission etc. and cost maybe (plucking a figure out of the air) £6-8m?
My concern is that by diverting passengers on to the highway bridge to cross the lines they are creating a precedent for other such stations. Is this scheme really DDA compliant when a wheelchair user has to move along the edge of a public highway on a narrow bridge?
Apart from that does anyone know if the parking area is to be retained in this rebuild?

I suspect it would cost more for a new site but it shows up the Network Rail consultation as being rubbish as it listed the rebuild and the move as costing the same. It also failed to analyse the benefits of moving the station despite it being one of the consultation options. It also said no new housing was planned when in fact there are several large housing allocations in Breich.

I was surprised by the minister’s decision but Network Rail really didn’t do a good job with the closure proposal and it was really very easy to make a strong argument against it.

 

[NotATrainspott]

If folk are interested, West Lothian Council have a planning application with various plans and layouts of the old and new station construction:

0399/ACT/18
https://planning.westlothian.gov.uk...s.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=P8EGLBRJ02A00

Idox planning portal often don't like direct links so if you put in that application number on the council site it'll give you everything.

From the plans you can see it really is a full rebuild to modern standards.

 

[snowball]

Followers of this thread may be interested in this post in the Scottish Electrification thread:

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...updates-discussion.90420/page-82#post-3549665

 

[alangla]

Armadale is a bit out in the sticks as well, but in the 7 and a bit years since it's opened, a large Asda and a couple of housing estates have appeared next to it. Blackridge also has new housing near it. Hopefully Briech will be an example of real foresight & grabbing the opportunity given by electrification, rather than £2-3m burnt on a pointless rebuild.

 

[Kite159]

Silly question, during the period it is closed is there a rail replacement taxi service being operated for any genuine passengers?

 

[jawr256]

Silly question, during the period it is closed is there a rail replacement taxi service being operated for any genuine passengers?

I asked ScotRail about this. The response was:

When passengers arrive to the station they are advised to press the Passenger Information Help point and speak with the ScotRail Control Room who may be able to offer an alternative transportation.

Which presumably isn't much use given that I assume the help point was on the now-demolished platforms(!)

 

[Kite159]

Did it even have a help point in the first place?

 

[Highlandspring]

Did it even have a help point in the first place?

Yes it did, on the Down platform only.

 

[185143]

Yes it did, on the Down platform only.

And it didn't work when I tried to use it to find out where my train was!

 

[Highlandspring]

Breich station officially reopened at 0600 today, although due to some sort of administrative oversight no trains have actually stopped there yet. First service to call will be 2Y60 0713 Glasgow Central - Edinburgh Waverley at 0805 tomorrow morning.

 

[alistairlees]

There will probably be about the same number of passengers on each day.

 

[alistairlees]

Breich station officially reopened at 0600 today, although due to some sort of administrative oversight no trains have actually stopped there yet. First service to call will be 2Y60 0713 Glasgow Central - Edinburgh Waverley at 0805 tomorrow morning.

There will probably be about the same number of passengers on each day.

 

[Stopper]

I passed over the bridge at the crossroads today driving. Breich station looks very smart indeed compared to the old station. It’s just a shame the station wasn’t moved closer to Breich itself. If the service is improved (even just slightly), there should be an attempt to tap into the Whitburn & Longridge areas, who would be more likely to use Armadale or Fauldhouse stations at the moment.

If all that money has been spent on it, you might as well give Breich the hourly stopper to see how it goes, especially since they stop at nearly everywhere else.

 

[thenorthern]

Given that the improvement works at Breich station have cost £2.4 million at current usage levels over a 20 year period the cost of the improvement works alone per passenger is £2500. That's a lot of money for a station that at current usage levels gets around 1 passenger per week.

 

[najaB]

Given that the improvement works at Breich station have cost £2.4 million at current usage levels...

I think everyone is agreed that keeping the station open is economic lunacy.

 

[Essexman]

I used Breich last year when writing Remote Stations, walking from Fauldhouse. I hope to go back and do another walk next year, ideally arriving and departing from Breich if more trains stop there as promised.

Whilst I was waiting the Help Point starting ringing. I didn't do anything but later wondered if I should have pressed the button which I assume would have answered it.

I wonder if it would have closed if Network Rail & Scotrail had made a better job of the closure process.

 

[Highlandspring]

I wonder if it would have closed if Network Rail & Scotrail had made a better job of the closure process.

In what way do you think the (legally required) process which was followed was flawed? How could Network Rail* have improved it within the bounds of the law?

Here is a copy of the Guidance Note published by the government for those applying for a station closure under the Railways Act 2005, which might help you formulate your answer.


*ScotRail had almost no role in the closure process other than being consulted at the beginning

 

[Essexman]

I'm not aware of any failings in the legal process but part of the argument against closure was that usage was low due to the very limited service. If more trains had been stopped (by request?) for a say the previous year and usage still very low, this argument could have been dismissed. I know the train service is down to ScotRail but understand that they wanted it closed too.

 

[Kite159]

It would make sense now having spent so much money on the station to call additional services there, although if the current timetable can cope with an additional ~ 3 minutes in is the million dollar question as the units don't tend to hang around for long at Glasgow