Brockenhurst station footbridge

[33011]

The footbridge at Brockenhurst station has been removed with just the stairs and abutments remaining at the moment as the spans have been removed. I'm not sure how long the stairs and abutments will remain before starting the new footbridge which will include lifts. It's sad to see the old bridge go but i suppose you have to have lifts these days. once the lifts are in place the traverser will probably be removed also (although the one at Brockenhurst is fairly new). Are there any other stations that still use trversers?

 

[Matt Taylor]

I was there just yesterday and grabbed a couple of shots of the work underway:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40172673@N03/11420996146/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40172673@N03/11420979605/in/photostream/


A temporary footbridge is in place at the west end of the station and the picture shows the traverser which will still be used until the new footbridge is complete.

 

[40135]

How sad.

I've detailed my only visit to this station elsewhere, but I was very impressed with it. Nice blend of the old and the new.

I'm all for the benefits the new structure will bring, but it's still sad to see such an elderly piece of railway infrastructure given its final curtain call.

 

[steamybrian]

The traverser is planned to be moved in 2014 to Eridge station on the Spa Valley Railway.

 

[swt_passenger]

Does anyone know if the new footbridge is going to allow all the 'moves' the old one did? Given the layout of the station, as two islands but with access to both sides, I'd be surprised if the budget ran to a full set of four lifts. Maybe there'll be only three lifts with the down side having a set of stairs only?

 

[lj9090]

Does anyone know if the new footbridge is going to allow all the 'moves' the old one did? Given the layout of the station, as two islands but with access to both sides, I'd be surprised if the budget ran to a full set of four lifts. Maybe there'll be only three lifts with the down side having a set of stairs only?

There's 3 sets of lift shafts built - both islands & the up side. The down side will have just stairs.

Work is progressing a bit slowly, NR website was claiming February back when it started. The spans went in place a couple of months ago, the steps on the up island last month, and the steps for the down island were added lastnight... I think, pretty sure they weren't there yesterday! At the rate it's taking I'd imagine there's still a few months to go.

The traverser is still in use, it's still quite often run over for the morning peak which is quite nice as it's otherwise a long walk down to the temporary bridge and back again.

 

[fgwrich]

There's 3 sets of lift shafts built - both islands & the up side. The down side will have just stairs.

Work is progressing a bit slowly, NR website was claiming February back when it started. The spans went in place a couple of months ago, the steps on the up island last month, and the steps for the down island were added lastnight... I think, pretty sure they weren't there yesterday! At the rate it's taking I'd imagine there's still a few months to go.

The traverser is still in use, it's still quite often run over for the morning peak which is quite nice as it's otherwise a long walk down to the temporary bridge and back again.

I was passing through Brockenhurst last weekend on my way to and from the Swanage's gala - I see it's quite unusual in effectively having 1 straight section and one angular to fit around the station layout as well, in a \_ shape.

 

[lj9090]

The new bridge opened on Friday. It's quite an improvement on the old one, much more space in the walkway and the stairs.

Being quite modern though it feels quite out of place!

 

[swt_passenger]

I think it's a little unfortunate, especially for cyclists, that the down island (i.e. P3/4) lift is only half the capacity of the other two - I suspect it's because that platform island wasn't really wide enough for a 16 person lift shaft, while still providing the necessary space to the platform edge on both sides.

I expect the slightly different widths available on the platform islands also explains why the span over the main lines is on the diagonal, (as fgwrich mentioned earlier) - so that the P3/4 lift is further west than the other two.

Lastly, there is still a fair amount to do to re-instate the existing platform canopies where they overlap with the new staircases, it will be interesting to see how successful this is given the different materials used...

 

[lj9090]

I thought the kink was because the staircases are quite a bit longer than the old ones, and with the down car park one facing a different direction like before everything's had to shift over a bit to get it all to fit in.

Talking of the stairs they don't seem to be all that level, they seem to feel like they're trying to tip you down the steps.

 

[swt_passenger]

I thought the kink was because the staircases are quite a bit longer than the old ones, and with the down car park one facing a different direction like before everything's had to shift over a bit to get it all to fit in.

Yes that could also be part of the reason - as the run and rise of the stairs will be a few feet longer than before, as is necessary to allow for future OHLE fitting.

The relative widths of the platforms are approximately 10m and 7m though, so there's certainly much less width on the down island.