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I assume you've looked at the plans rather than just read the rubbish which is printed on the Northampton Chron website and regurgitated by Look East?
Greyfriars is way, way too big - the express coach bays are empty for over 90% of the time. The whole footprint of the site is too big, mainly because it doubles up as a garage / stabling point for Stagecoach. It has been agreed that Stagecoach will stable their buses elsewhere, so overall a smaller bus station will probably be far more fit for purpose in capacity terms than Greyfriars is.
It's already got powered doors, reasonable lighting, CCTV and cafe / shops. It is dark and grotty because it is enclosed with an office block over the top of it - large solid roofs tend not to be condusive to bright airy spaces, as Birmingham New Street and Euston also demonstrate to good effect. It's way beyond the "TLC" stage.
Wrong - on so many levels. People do not go to a specific town because it's got a nicer bus station. They go there because:
1 - choice of shops
2 - transport links / parking
Nobody chooses to go to a town because it's got a nicer bus station than the alternative. The majority of the buses going into Northampton bus station are local services from the various areas around Northampton, most of which DON'T have a direct service to an alternative destination in any case.
And given that it's unlikely that the bus brings in more than 50% of the visitors into the town, there are 50% who are totally unaffected by this scheme.
It's also worth remembering that the demolition of Greyfriars is integral to the expansion of the Grosvenor Centre - the aim of which is to attract more not fewer shoppers into Northampton.
And as somebody who lives in Northampton, I can't wait for them to get rid of the bloody thing. It's an ugly, dingy place to go to. It's a nightmare to get to the railway station from - the new site will be a much easier walk for that - and the improvements to the Grosvenor Centre are long overdue.
I agree with your words,
Greyfriars bus station would cost more to refurbish (approx £30m) and new interchange has been mooted as costing less then £8m so it would be a no brainer to build a new facility,but I am concerned that the new facility will not be big enough - OK so the drapery will be part of this project but wouldn't the new bus interchange be better suited to the car park next to the court building? it has better entrance and exit roads (The Mounts and Ladys Lane) and has more space for a decent sized interchange/bus station.
The existing facility has fallen further into neglect,smashed windows being left boarded up,toilets filthy,staircases not cleaned and smell disgusting,toilets in a bad state of repair,escalators keep breaking down,electronic destination boards broken,water ingress into the concrete structure causing numerous leaks into the subways,the old coach bays have been permanently sealed off.
There is only one newspaper shop,a little used restuarant (used tobe council owned many years ago) and also the stagecoach travel shop.
The CCTV is now operating to the minimums, electric sliding doors was tried out back in 1996/97 (Bay A) and this was abandoned with the doors left open and only closed by hand when the station is 'locked up' at the end of the services.
As a resident of Northampton I hope that demolition of the existing facility is confirmed so that the town can move forward,Northampton is a former glory of its self and needs tobe re-established asap,my only worry is that the plans for a major retail development in rushden does not put this 12 year old project in doubt.
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I think that's been the general finding of this thread. October 2010 was the last time they closed routes down, shedding the 5 and the 22 to Stagecoach and in doing so pretty much handing them the keys to the city. They claimed they were letting the 5 go due to low usage after putting all their worst vehicles on it and watching everyone switch to nearby SC services. Now if the 4 goes... it'll just be the 2, 28, 29 and 30 left, and that little Brackmills shuttle. That's hardly an operation at all.
I used to use the 5 and the 5A and early morning and late afternoon/evening they was always busy so I dont know where First dreamed that excuse up!,I sent a e-mail the other day to First and got the reply that First Northampton is NOT closing down or being disposed of,I also sent a e-mail to Stagecoach but have not had any response!,I'm drawing my own conclusions on this one.
Stagecoach seem tobe doing a good job of running this service (5),they use newish buses and always seem tobe busy,the only difference in their route is that they no longer serve Riverside Retail Park as this is now part of the 17 service.
IF Stagecoach take over the number 4 service this can only be a good thing as this route needs a serious kick up the backside.
)? As a general rule of thumb, which is the stronger in these locations? Which is more powerful in Portsmouth for instance, or are the two operations too different from one-another to count?
