Visited Effingham Junction yesterday to see that nearly all of the old ticket office has been demolished now! A new building has been built in the car park along with a ramp onto the down platform. Surely the old ticket office and bike shed could have been renovated?? Just seems a shame that no attempt was made to preserve a piece of railway history??
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New effingham junction ticket office
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MidnightFlyer
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http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Eff...QDV0zzzkxhwiBXuQM-0fWg&cbp=12,203.17,,0,-0.34 - It does look a lot worse for wear. If it could be salvaged it looks like it would need a lot of work doing, and would make the new booking office pointless. A lot of buildings over the Southern Region have been lost recently - Coulsdon Town for example, with Hassocks and Ashtead following soon. It is sad to see them go, but I suspect the upkeep of them (and indeed the relative pointlessness) makes it a very unattractive and unnecessary project.
Interesting to learn about the other two stations being altered soon.
I spoke to the booking clerk at the weekend and he said that there had been a lot of objections to tearing the old building down!!
The new bike rack is small and the bikes are now out in the open and on display to some thieving toe rag whereas before they were under cover and out of sight. I cycle so I feel a little vulnerable leaving my bike out sometimes.
I cannot believe that the restoration would have been more expensive than what has been built in it's place?? They are also building a ramp for wheel chair access onto the down platform which is a good thing I feel.
Yes it is sad that the quaint wooden ticket office has been lost for ever but I imagine the various options were discussed.
What is the railway companies attitude towards railway heritage??
I spoke to the booking clerk at the weekend and he said that there had been a lot of objections to tearing the old building down!!
The new bike rack is small and the bikes are now out in the open and on display to some thieving toe rag whereas before they were under cover and out of sight. I cycle so I feel a little vulnerable leaving my bike out sometimes.
I cannot believe that the restoration would have been more expensive than what has been built in it's place?? They are also building a ramp for wheel chair access onto the down platform which is a good thing I feel.
Yes it is sad that the quaint wooden ticket office has been lost for ever but I imagine the various options were discussed.
What is the railway companies attitude towards railway heritage??
MidnightFlyer
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I don't know, it depends in how bad a condition the building is though. As in quite a few cases it is better to spend a larger amount of money now and be covered for years than spend small amounts maintaining a crumbling building, but keep having to go back to it every couple of years to fix it.
The railways are there to serve people. Whilst it is always nice to see old buildings preserved, it has to be functional, safe, modern and effective too. I'm sure SWT and NR have better things to spend money on than maintaining an old building for heritage's sake, however nice it may be. Of course, there are times when new buildings are significantly worse (see Newport, South Wales), but generally speaking it is the best move to take the opportunity for new development whilst you can.
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