Should Atherstone Station have Platform extensions?

[DarloRich]

Whenever I travel on the LNWR trains from Milton Keynes to Crewe I am always a little confused about Atherstone and in particular why there have been no platform extensions. It only has 4 car length platforms but is served by 8 car trains. Does anyone know why there havent been extensions? The station always seems to have people getting on and off so must be a success. I know the service is now much improved these days which seems to have attracted passengers.

I don't know the area well but do know the station seems to be hemmed in on all sides and is really close to a narrow road and the canal. Is that part of the issue?

Finally, it has a lovely station building. I assume it is no longer in railway use ( no ticket office) but is it occupied and looked after? I have only ever seen it from the railway side!

 

[185]

Six-ish coaches already fit both sides, but it's about £11 squillion to extend, the experts suggest. Same with Smethwick Galton Bridge, just eleven foot required both sides to accommodate 8 cars, but we're talking trillions, according to those experts.

 

[AC47461]

The station building appears to be a veterinary centre, although the signs for it are no longer on the entrance, Riversmeet still list it as one of their two practices (although that could still easily be wrong...).

I agree it's a lovely building though. Always thought it was quite large for the station it serves, but that's not uncommon is it

 

[LowLevel]

It was only served by 4 car trains until fairly recently, and go back to the 2000s and the train service was provided entirely by a sporadic 153 turning up a few times a day! The Trent Valley service has certainly been one of the successes of the last few years, hopefully to be supported a bit by Nuneaton regaining regular Avanti calls.

 

[zwk500]

Six-ish coaches already fit both sides, but it's about £11 squillion to extend, the experts suggest. Same with Smethwick Galton Bridge, just eleven foot required both sides to accommodate 8 cars, but we're talking trillions, according to those experts.

Closing a busy railway isn't cheap.

How much should it cost to lengthen platforms by c50m?

 

[Huntergreed]

Whenever I travel on the LNWR trains from Milton Keynes to Crewe I am always a little confused about Atherstone and in particular why there have been no platform extensions. It only has 4 car length platforms but is served by 8 car trains. Does anyone know why there havent been extensions? The station always seems to have people getting on and off so must be a success. I know the service is now much improved these days which seems to have attracted passengers.

I don't know the area well but do know the station seems to be hemmed in on all sides and is really close to a narrow road and the canal. Is that part of the issue?

The north end of the station is next to an overbridge to Old Watling Street. It’s quite a wide bridge (4 tracks) and to:

1) Close it to redevelop the land on either side to make clearance for a new bridge wide enough to accommodate platforms.

2) Install a new overbridge (this would be an absolute nightmare as the tracks rest on the old bridge and the road underneath “dips down” into the bridge, meaning it would have to be redone to ensure adequate clearance for road vehicles).

Would rule out the north side for an extension on “cost and hassle” grounds. No way would a cost/benefit analysis justify that.

Looking to the south side, there appears to be a Co-operative supermarket in the way of where the up platform would need to go (and whilst there is a small bit of clearance between the railway and the supermarket, it isn’t much). On the down side there does appear to be room to extend - but would it really be justifiable to do one but not the other?

With a 350, the whole train can be accessed even if only some of it is berthed in the platform so this doesn’t seem a huge issue, certainly not one that the costs of extending the platforms can be justified to resolve.

Finally, it has a lovely station building. I assume it is no longer in railway use ( no ticket office) but is it occupied and looked after? I have only ever seen it from the railway side!

It’s a veterinary centre and it is a grade II listed building.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Six-ish coaches already fit both sides, but it's about £11 squillion to extend, the experts suggest. Same with Smethwick Galton Bridge, just eleven foot required both sides to accommodate 8 cars, but we're talking trillions, according to those experts.

If it's only 11' short, would it be possible to put the stop board 11' past the end? Or would there be a signal to move which would cost more than lengthening?

Closing a busy railway isn't cheap.

How much should it cost to lengthen platforms by c50m?

You don't have to close a railway to extend a platform, only to put the coping stones on. The whole south WCML was done without lengthy closures.

 

[The Planner]

If it's only 11' short, would it be possible to put the stop board 11' past the end? Or would there be a signal to move which would cost more than lengthening?

14 m short, not 11 foot. The Up platform at Smethwick is 149m, it needs 163m to fit an entire 8 car 350. Down platform is 12 m short and there is a signal at the end of the platform but you should be clear of it. You should also be clear of the banner on the up as well.

 

[DarloRich]

@Huntergreed = thanks for the info.

 

[NoRoute]

I'd have thought putting a decent roof over the platforms would be more important.

I've never understood why the modern railways think passengers are happy to be left standing in the rain.

 

[Kite159]

A better solution would be for LNR/leasing company to fit the ASDO solution which SWR had fitted to their Desiros to allow a pair of 350s to open as many doors that fits on the station rather than just "Front Unit only".

I assume the new rolling stock (730s) will come fitted with SDO from new, similar to the system used by Greater Anglia on the 720s where a pair of units don't fit at certain stations where it isn't cost effective to extend the platforms

 

[Ken H]

Whenever I travel on the LNWR trains from Milton Keynes to Crewe I am always a little confused about Atherstone and in particular why there have been no platform extensions. It only has 4 car length platforms but is served by 8 car trains. Does anyone know why there havent been extensions? The station always seems to have people getting on and off so must be a success. I know the service is now much improved these days which seems to have attracted passengers.

I don't know the area well but do know the station seems to be hemmed in on all sides and is really close to a narrow road and the canal. Is that part of the issue?

Finally, it has a lovely station building. I assume it is no longer in railway use ( no ticket office) but is it occupied and looked after? I have only ever seen it from the railway side!

Lived near there till 88. Station building was offices. Fenced off on the platform side.

 

[London Trains]

Why not just close and fill in the bridge? Road traffic can easily cross the WCML by using the A5, as overheight vehicles currently have to do anyway.

Then build a footbridge over the station for crossing between the platforms, which anyone will be able to use since the station is not gated.

 

[38Cto15E]

I would have thought that just keep things platform wise as they are unless pendolino's get to stop at Atherstone sometime in the future.
What is happening with car parking charges at ATH, it looked like they wanted to charge for parking but didn't go ahead with the idea the last time I was at Atherstone.

 

[Energy]

Why not just close and fill in the bridge? Road traffic can easily cross the WCML by using the A5, as overheight vehicles currently have to do anyway.

That bridge is very low (2m I believe), certainly only high enough for cars. As long as there is a footbridge it is probably fine to close.