Great Western Coffee Shop

New plans though I have not found the detail plans on the portal.

“The proposed station will have two platforms, with the eastern and western platforms served by trains to Newton Abbot and Exeter, respectively. Each platform will be 124 metres in length, sufficient to accommodate trains formed of up to 5 cars, and will be 4m wide.”
Each platform will have a waiting shelter, 10m wide by 1.5m deep, containing 12 stainless steel seats with arm rests, and a perch rail for 4 passengers, as well as one ticket vending machine on each platform, located inside the waiting shelters.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50174172577_f404ca9553_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jrHKsZ)Marsh Barton Station. 2 (https://flic.kr/p/2jrHKsZ) by Robert (https://www.flickr.com/photos/revupminster/), on Flickr

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50174172517_c7b84f4e1f_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jrHKrX)Marsh Barton Station (https://flic.kr/p/2jrHKrX) by Robert (https://www.flickr.com/photos/revupminster/), on Flickr

From the local news:

https://www-devonlive-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/marsh-barton-train-station-plans-4384046.amp?amp_js_v=a3&amp_gsa=1&usqp=mq331AQFKAGwASA%3D#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.devonlive.com%2Fnews%2Fdevon-news%2Fmarsh-barton-train-station-plans-4384046

That is a spectacular URL .... try https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/marsh-barton-train-station-plans-4384046 without the tracking data  ;D ;D

Was I reading a big cost saving by having the bridge ramps in line with the section aross the railway rather than at right angles it, parallel with the track ... the saving being in reduced payments because the problem of having to build close alongside the main and only railway to South Devon and Cornwall is largely eliminated.

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/marsh-barton-train-station-plans-4384046

Hopefully this will now proceed without further delay. The only quibble I have is allowing private motor vehicle access to the station site - given it's principal raison d'être it should be accessible only on foot, by bicycle or a frequent Marsh Barton Trading Estate shuttle bus service preferably using electric or hybrid vehicles.

What's the betting this will up and running before either Portway Parkway or Portishead ?

You gave me an idea ... poll at http://www.passenger.chat/23856 . Just for fun.

The annoying thing to me this is a Devon County Council (not Exeter where it is situated) proposal and can call on other funding that Torbay as a unitary authority cannot in regard to Edginswell.

I don't understand the issue here. 

Exeter is not a unitary and therefore is part of the area covered by Devon County Council.  Torbay is a Unitary and is therefore not part of the area covered by Devon County Council.

Torbay Council as a unitary local authority has the same access to government funds as Devon County Council.  What is the issue?

This is what I was told on another site.

Devon County Council administrate transport infrastructure so the application will be applied by them rather than Exeter City Council. The same would have happened at Newcourt.

The scheme however is jointly funded by Devon County Council, Exeter City Council, Teignbridge District Council, East Devon District Council, and Mid Devon District Council. This is where being a unitary council is a handicap for Torbay (and Plymouth) as they can't call upon Devon County Council to give funding or request neighbouring council's under the Devon County Council umbrella to contribute to schemes.

And if that's right I am more annoyed because Torbay had to contribute a lot of money to the Kingskerswell By Pass which is wholly in Devon. Newton Abbot contributed a very small about and ensured there was only one lane in and out of Torbay while retaining all there access lanes at the roundabout.

Yes but Kingkerswell By Pass benefited Torbay since it improved access to Torbay (massively by road at least).  And Torbay gets both County and District funding (such as it is) from central government. They could still agree co-funding with Devon on other things. 

I am guessing that Devon have agreed with their district councils for a funding package for Devon Metro as a whole. 

The same issue arises in other areas where councils want to go it alone (North Somerset?) rather than join in with their neighbours (in that case as a combined authority). 

There is certainly more than one lane into and out of Torbay.   The only stupid idea was making the overpass at Penn Inn Roundabout one lane as often some don't follow the 50mph speed limit and drive up your backside!  Otherwise it works perfect fine, although it's very future proof limited (i.e not thinking much about its use in 10 or 20 years from now)

It was reduced to one lane from two or it would not have got built. It only got built because there was a coalition government at the time and Adrian Saunders was the Torbay MP (libdem). The lanes at ground level were kept exactly as before so you can get to Torbay at ground level hindered by the traffic lights. Torbay was conned into paying a lot of money for one lane. Devon was looking after Newton Abbot.

Just checking past applications and Marsh Barton station validated on 27 July has still not been approved. More visualisations, in September on the planning portal with some alterations to original.

old

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50174172517_c7b84f4e1f_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jrHKrX)Marsh Barton Station (https://flic.kr/p/2jrHKrX) by Robert (https://www.flickr.com/photos/revupminster/), on Flickr

New

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50517635896_4de6c3cc68_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2jY569m)Marsh Barton sept 2020 (https://flic.kr/p/2jY569m) by Robert (https://www.flickr.com/photos/revupminster/), on Flickr

Still the shelters won't be comfortable to sit in for your 30 minute wait, a Pagoda would be a better shelter  ;D. This station is very much needed and will provide good connections to those working in the area taking strain off Exeter's congested roads. I wonder if Stagecoach will set up a bus service from the station to further parts of Matford/Marsh Barton as parts are quite a distance from the proposed station.


One point to note: Whilst the idea is to get this station done on the cheap, would it not have been a good idea to have used this opportunity to make a second passing loop on the Newton Abbot to Exeter stretch?

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/marsh-barton-new-train-station-4782036

Plans approved with a view to open in December 2021.

The article also mentions Okehampton, Edginswell, Monkerton, and Cullompton.

The choice of 'Monkerton' is an odd one. I am assuming the siting will be at Hill Barton, on the Exmouth branch between Polsloe Bridge and Digby and Sowton. The location of the main Monkerton development is closer to Pinhoe station on the Exeter to Salisbury line than it is to the Exmouth branch.

Monkerton  Station is proposed at Hill Barton Road. It is near housing being built and the Met Office. There are housing sites all over eastern Exeter. In the next 10 years Exeter's population will overtake Torbay.

I appreciate that (I live in Pinhoe, with developments ongoing all around me), but the choice of name - 'Monkerton' - is not appropriate. The developments to the west of the Met Office, close to Hill Barton are all marketed as 'Hill Barton', so why not call the station 'Hill Barton'. The nearest 'Monkerton' development is nearly a mile away. Mind you, the developments will probably all end up merging. 

12 months from now?  That seems wildly optimistic, especially for a two platform station.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49687484361_5cff759c54_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2iGHm1R)Marsh Barton Station site Clappergate Lane (https://flic.kr/p/2iGHm1R) by Robert (https://www.flickr.com/photos/revupminster/), on Flickr

Site is reasonably flat, probably be prefabricated off site. Get in quick before Network rail inflate the price again.

The image should be Clapperbook lane.

Devon Live report a February date for construction to commence:

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/marsh-barton-railway-station-construction-4883936?fbclid=IwAR1MTMM_8lDn2SRnd1w8-jvGgSqEgIEM9Ef-CXDDNeJenAfsRbeb65iVIOY

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/marsh-barton-railway-station-work-5304324 (https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/marsh-barton-railway-station-work-5304324)

Confirmation that construction of the new station has started. I cycled past the site yesterday and a significant degree of vegetation clearance was evident.

Hurrah!! At last. Edginswell still hasn't gone to planning.

Another 'cycle by' on Friday (23/04); the area between the railway and (to the SSE of) Clapperbrook Lane East has had the topsoil stripped, been levelled and a layer of stone applied. I guess we should see the makings of an active worksite very soon.

It will be interesting if works traffic will be constantly crossing the bridge which has a restricted weight limit on it (and is quite narrow).

The planning documents show an access road entered from Water Lane in the north, between the canal and a compound full of diesel generators, running south to cross Clapperbrook Lane. That compound is Water Lane STOR - for Short-Term Operational Reserve, meaning it does this:

The generators are road-transportable, i.e. shipping container size; here there are 19 providing 20 MW. That seems a bit low, as there is another STOR site in Marsh Barton in the Makro car park off Yeoford Road, and that's rated at 20 MW but has 10 similar generators. I can't find out who built and who runs the Water Lane one; the other is Peak Gen Power's.

And there's more - just across the railway line, at the end of Marsh Green Road (Kenton Place), there is a 65 MW OCGT power station, built by Rolls-Royce Power Development Limited but now run by Whitetower Energy Limited. Note that some of this info comes from applications, and may be misleading (the Rolls-Royce application was for 3 GW!). There are many more applications than things that happen - think of railway stations!

The site north of Clapperbrook Lane, up to the STOR site, has approval for a solar array farm, and building was reported as starting earlier this year. Any sign of that? Presumably that would also need the access road behind it.

I know there's a 132 kV line running past there, which is convenient, but even so ... I guess putting all these things (especially the fuel-burning ones) in an industrial estate avoids the kind of objections there have been recently in Bristol about putting STOR sites in residential areas.

This final section of Water Lane, SE of the STOR compound, is currently blocked to all motor vehicles, with metal bollards, at both ends and is a VERY popular route for walkers, dog walkers & cyclists. One hopes that common sense will prevail and all foot/bicycle users will be instructed to use the alternative route to the east of the Exeter Ship Canal.

Inspired by BB's reports I diverted my morning cycle to work past the site today. There is indeed a temporary haul road extending south from Water Lane to meet Clapperbrook Lane. It liesa few metres to the west of the cycle/footpath which runs along the west bank of the canal (and which remains open).

I assume the haul road must have been the access for the articulated lorry that I saw unloading concrete blocks in the embryonic station car park. (They looked a bit like the blocks that are used to support modern station platforms).

Cycled past the site yesterday (29/04); workmen (is this term still permitted?  ;D) were busy clearing ground vegetation & cutting back trees on the 'Up' side of the railway (adjacent to the Viridor Energy-From-Waste plant) and along the south side of Clapperbrook Lane.  In addition to the previously mentioned precast concrete blocks there were a large number of what looked like preformed steelwork sections on the eastern side of the 'yard'.

It depends. Were all those present "men" and were they "working" ? More importantly, had a Diversity Equality Inclusivity Impact Assessment been carried out to deternine whether those Global Citizens present were the most appropriate given the need to ensure that the Intersectionality of the Impact Output (formerly "Work") complies with the latest thinking on how to acheive Cradle to Cradle Circular Economy Corporate Social Responsibility?

Furthermore, did the Diversity Equality Inclusivity Impact Assessment fully consider the Human Rights of those Global Citizens who have, after having fully participated in Brave Space Truth & Reconciliation, made the decision as Slacktivists not to participate in said Impact Output?

Finally, it is extremely important that we fully utiise Impact Consulting to ensure that we refer to outdated concepts such as "yards" by their more appropriate forms such as Material Footprint Zones if we want our Impact Storytelling to fully reflect our Two Spirit Value Chain.

Hope that clarifies things.

BINGO

Not so much, but it brightened up my morning readings no end.

06/05/21.
All the trees between the ERF (Energy Recovery Facility) and Clapperbrook Lane have been completely removed (the plan showed they would have obstructed the proposed new pedestrian/cycle bridge). An additional excavator on the site is digging trenches possibly for the installation of drainage infrastructure.

Reading a DCC (Devon County Council) article published in mid-April it appears that the new (?temporary) Water Lane extension is primarily intended to allow vehicles continued access to the Double Locks pub when Clapperbrook Lane East closes, 'for about 16 months', at the end of May. Good to see that our lords & masters have their priorities sorted for a change!

BBC spotlight local news for the south west of England on Wednesday(26 may) had an item about the station.
Mike Reddaway was interviewed
Item is on approx 13 minutes into the programme
Reminder that local news is available for TWENTY FOURS only 

Clapperbrook Lane East is now closed to motor vehicles (pedestrians & cyclists still allowed) - and has had it's width reduced by half with some metal fencing to ensure the closure is fully observed. Still not many obvious signs of progress on the site.

Work has started on the foundations of the new pedestrian/cyclist bridge.

Still no obvious signs of progress with the station itself - virtually all effort at present is concentrated around the south-western end of Clapperbrook Lane where work on the new pedestrian/cycle bridge continues.

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/latest-pictures-show-new-16m-5709391 (https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/latest-pictures-show-new-16m-5709391)

Report from the DevonLive website with some very recent pictures. It looks like work has started on the down platform with a concrete version of Lego.

Marsh Barton Station site 19th October:

With the exception of Porkway Partway, which I will believe when I see, is there any other station under construction so far away from homes? It's a great idea to have it where so many people work, and the reopening of Okehampton will be a boost, but still a bit of a step into the unknown.

Reading Green Park would have been if it had been built even a little bit quicker - but the houses have won that race.

Although it is actually called the Marsh Barton Trading Estate I would hazard a guess that a significant majority of the businesses located therein provide 'face2face' goods & services direct to the general public and this might have been in the '+' column when construction was being considered. It obviously remains to be seen whether people can be tempted out of their cars; the awful daily traffic congestion in the area would do it for me-last time we had business on the estate we used the bus.

It would do it for me too. I have to go to a couple of places there from time to time, thankfully it is usually somewhere with a customer car park, but it is always busy. £16 million seems a lot for somewhere within walking distance of St Dave and St Tom, though, although clearly that hasn't tempted many people out of the car yet. I hope it's a huge success, so I can go by train next time.

There are new homes being built south of Alphington and the Industrial estate about a mile from the station. More houses will fill in towards the industrial estate.

Thursday 16/12/2021 - Some obvious signs of progress:

Devon Live have a piece on progress with Marsh Barton Station from today with some pictures.  See link below.

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/gallery/16m-marsh-barton-train-station-6476058?fbclid=IwAR30lj6AoTr0l569W2uMprdAW4Qrp8Wfr6oM5gIaWlEYzKDdo8DvwrnFV1k

Comparing these pictures to those on the Green Park, Reading thread, it looks like it's a bit behind where Green Park was last February. Let's hope they finish it quicker!

Hurtling through site of Marsh Barton Station just now heading towards Dawlish.

Edit:  Photo taken of the East side of the site.

New footbridge craned in last weekend.

https://www.devon.gov.uk/news/new-bridge-installed-at-marsh-barton-rail-station-site/?IYA-reg=be50fd84-bdfd-4701-9bc8-10ad76bdfcb3

Marsh Barton now appearing as service stop unadvertised in the new May timetable on RealTime Trains.

Passed through last Saturday and a lot of work still to be done. Can't see it opening before September.

I agree - my guess is that it'll open with the December timetable change.

The local Devon press have run an article about a recent stakeholder visit to the station to view the progress being made.  There's quite a good photo of the site halfway through the article after the "group photo" which doesn't show much....unless you are big on hi-viz work wear.
A vague winter opening date is mentioned which surprises me given the progress clearly achieved so far.  Here's the link:

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/exeters-newest-train-station-set-7364135

GWR will be making an announcement about the opening of a new station at 10.00 today. Could it be..?

Official opening date announced as Tuesday 4 July.

Devon Metro 1,  MetroWest 0.

From Devon Live: (https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/exeters-16m-marsh-barton-railway-8539642)


(Full story with a couple more pictures and a video which is almost a candidate for the Annoying Stock Pictures thread - at source)

I've just realised how close the station is to the Double Locks pub, where I had a very nice Sunday lunch a while back. If I went by train, I could go the extra pint.

BBC Spotlight news at 06:25am on Monday morning saying that the transaport minister will be at the official opening today(monday 3rd july 2023).

The visit will then continue to Dawlish.

Film footage may on the lunch time news at 13:30pm on Monday.

Will the entourage arrive by bus/taxi/train/plane/helicopter?

The entourage has a dedicated, specially cleaned train for their trips to Marsh Barton and Dawlish, so expect yet another short formed train on the Devon Metro on top of the regular short forms today.

Special stop orders on scheduled trains, I understand.

A rather dull and drizzly morning for the first day of public services to Marsh Barton.  I arrived on a train at just after 09:30 and a few got off and not all were "enthusiasts".  The station announcements at Exeter Central included Marsh Barton as did the visual displays on the train - although whenever the "voice" was supposed to say the name of the station there was gap.  Makes a change from whispering Reading Green Park I suppose.

(https://mbob.co.uk/rforum/mbt1.jpg)

(https://mbob.co.uk/rforum/mbt2.jpg)

The platforms can both accommodate a five car IET although the units themselves have not been programmed to work at the station as yet.

(https://mbob.co.uk/rforum/mbtiet.jpg)

There is step free access to both platforms but it comes at the expense of a long walkway from one side to the other.  The path on the left goes down to the Newton Abbot bound platform while the one on the right goes over the railway.  (The building at the back is not toppling over - more on that in a moment.)

(https://mbob.co.uk/rforum/mbtsteps.jpg)

The station is in an industrial estate from where most its projected customers are likely to come from, although there is limited leisure opportunities for those who want to walk along the nearby brook to either a country pub or the country park.

One thing the photos don't reveal is the odour which pervades the station.  It is built next door to a refuse collection centre which does rather taint the air.

(https://mbob.co.uk/rforum/mbtwaste.jpg)

That is the front of the building which appeared to be toppling over earlier.

The station has an hourly service between Exeter and Newton Abbot/Paignton throughout the day with extra peak hour trains.

(https://mbob.co.uk/rforum/mbttime.jpg)
(Services from Exeter Central station poster)

Perhaps someone can explain why a brand new station still does not have level access from platform to train?

According to Gareth Dennis on Twitter it is not because the platform was built to the wrong height but rather we are still using the wrong trains.

https://twitter.com/garethdennis/status/1676218521968164865?s=61&t=VlafMC5gF9tidw36b1Y8JQ

Geoff Marshall's visit to Marsh Barton, including a brief interview with Mark Hopwood.

https://youtu.be/w4tF1EggBuI

This is from the Step-free London campaign (https://stepfreelondon.uk/level-boarding-introduction/), but does apply to NR lines and is pretty factual (for a pressure group). Basically, it's not that simple.

I'm sure the process of solving the problem nationwide must start with a clear plan, and then somewhere in the implementation comes a step labelled "wait until all pre-existing stock is replaced". So don't hold your breath.

From Roger French
https://busandtrainuser.com/2023/07/06/a-new-station-for-exeter-just-dont-try-buying-a-ticket-to-travel-there/
A new station for Exeter. Just don’t try buying a ticket to travel there.

Located just under two-and-a-half miles due south of central Exeter, not far from Exeter St Thomas station on the main line west towards Plymouth, the station was officially opened on Monday by Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper with trains calling there from Tuesday.
(Continues)..........

My travels today brought me to Exeter and took the opportunity to have a quick look at Marsh Barton station....then a quick pint at the Double Locks....well in this weather it would be wrong not to. 
Fair number of people getting on and off which was good to see.
Some pictures attached.