Great Western Coffee Shop

Not sure where to put this.

Torbay planning portal today has plans for lifts to be installed within the existing stairwell towers.

https://www.torbay.gov.uk/newpublicaccess/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=QCKNG3QIHOE00&activeTab=summary

I had hoped that had been quietly forgotten. 

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50876720371_f5f269cf5b_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kvNurZ)Torquay station (https://flic.kr/p/2kvNurZ) by Robert (https://www.flickr.com/photos/revupminster/), on Flickr

Third largest town in Devon, behind Plymouth and Exeter,  soon to be a three station town. Edginswell plans changed to include lifts instead of ramps. It benefits mothers with prams as well as the usual suspects, elderly and disabled.

Half a million passengers a year, grade II listed. Would benefit those passengers who park their car on platform 2 side (free) or bus passengers on platform 1 side.

I of course agree about the importance of Torquay but there is already level access to both platforms and it is easy to drop off and pick up by car on both sides.  Anyway, it's happening now.

Looking at the plans (including 11 pages dealing with bats - though "no bats were actually seen roosting or commuting") they look in keeping.   Torquay is not the only station with good level access on both sides, but a step-only footbridge.  Near to where I live, Trowbridge is the same; you can get round - but quite a walk - on the level outside the station and over the nearby road bridge. 

Issues we have at Trowbridge:

1. People changing trains headed on journeys such as
- Melksham to Bradford-on-Avon, Bath Spa, Keynsham, Bristol Temple Meads
- Bradford-on-Avon to Melksham, Chippenham and Swindon
have to cross the bridge and if they are unable to or have prams, luggage, etc, can be an issue.

2. Anyone who's wheelchair bound and drives themselves to the station has (at one end or other of their day) a long way to wheel themselves round.

3. Getting a taxi when arriving from the south if you are not nimble can be a bit of a struggle

The difference between Trowbridge and Torquay is that people do not regularly change trains at Torquay. There is certainly a case for improved facilities at Trowbridge but not so much, in my opinion, at Torquay

But at Torquay the entrance / exit to and from the beach area is on the opposite side of the station to anyone travelling North, so there will be hundreds of people going across the station in peak summer time

The lifts are not going to shift many of those hundreds.  We should not forget that there is a step free access to the up platform using the adjacent road overbridge which has a footway.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50883998156_ce2b55e3de_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/2kwrMT3)torquay roads (https://flic.kr/p/2kwrMT3) by Robert (https://www.flickr.com/photos/revupminster/), on Flickr

It is still quite a walk for someone pushing a wheelchair or pram or luggage and the slope is not as gentle as it looks.

I suspect this is to do with People of Reduced Mobility rules. Maybe  Paignton which is busier can get away with no lifts as all trains depart, but not terminate, from platform 2.

Just to go slightly off-topic. The photos bring back memories. In the 1950s we lived in Hennapyn Road and one can just see its beginning in the aerial view. I used to walk down to the station with my Ian Allan locomotive books.

Obviously, but it is about assisting those that need the lift

Looking "the other way" ... how much traffic do you want / could a lift handle?   It might be only a very small percentage of passengers, but if the passenger flow is big enough ...

A search - and this may be out of date - gave me the following underground stations which are "lifts only" although they all (surely) have emergency stairs too.  Not sure where I'm going with this - apart for suggesting that lifts can and could handle considerable traffic.  I suspect Covent Garden might be the busiest, though I have used Lancaster Gate and Queensway at some quite busy times!

Belsize Park
Borough
Caledonian Road
Chalk Farm
Covent Garden
Edgware Road (Bakerloo line)
Elephant and Castle
Gloucester Road (Piccadilly line)
Goodge Street
Hampstead
Holland Park
Holloway Road
Kennington
Lambeth North
Lancaster Gate
Mornington Crescent
Queensway
Regents Park
Russell Square
Tufnell Park

The Underground lifts at those stations above are far bigger than anything GWR has or needs at it's stations. All those stations have stairs. Torquay, Edginswell, Dawlish will get lifts like the Docklands Light Railway or the smaller lifts at stations like Waterloo, Canary Wharf. where there are escalators

Always used the stairs at Lancaster gate in the past. Last time I was there in 2019 they have stopped that exept in emergency.

Torbay approved the plans on 1 April 2021. 2 public objections, none from Historic England.

Station car park fenced off. Something to keep an eye on.

Footbridge work (lifts) starting soon?