Wokingham Station improvements

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Wokingham Times:

Work on a new multi-million pound train station in Wokingham will start next month.

The new station promises passengers improved retail facilities, better waiting areas and new information screens.

A new footbridge linking both platforms will also be built, along with a new access road and interchange to improve links with other forms of public transport.

The ^6 million project, funded by Wokingham Borough Council, the National Station Improvement Programme and Access for All money, will be carried out by Network Rail and South West Trains Alliance.

A public open event will take place at Wokingham Town Hall, in Market Place, between 2pm and 8pm on Wednesday, November 7, for people to ask questions.

The scheme is due to be completed in August next year, but trains will run as normal while work is taking place.

Call Network Rail^s national helpline on 08457 114141 for more information.

[Thatcham Crossing]

This was being discussed in detail on local radio (BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Berks) a few mornings ago and mention was made that there will also be extensive alterations to the road system around the station as part of this.

The bit I recall is that the mini roundabout immediately adjacent to the level crossing will be going and that there were be traffic lights, co-ordinated with the crossing, that will control flows instead. I think the idea is to give priority to traffic coming towards the town up Barkham Ride when the barriers are open, which makes sense.

The best thing of all of course would be to get rid of the crossing altogether and put a bridge in, but I suspect space and cost would be the main issues, just like they are in Thatcham!

[bobm]

From Get Wokingham

Wokingham station work on track for next summer
 By Jon Nurse
 November 15, 2012

 

Rail bosses say the town will be able to take pride in the ^6 million train station when it opens next summer.
 
Work starts two weeks today on Wokingham station which will include a new footbridge to the platforms and an access road with a public transport interchange.
 
More than 40 people saw plans at an exhibition at Wokingham Town Hall on Wednesday.
 
Julie Worman, communications officer for contractor Spencer Group, said: ^People recognise they need a new station and 99.9 per cent have been really positive about it.
 
^There have been concerns from Alderman Willey Close over noise levels but their fears have been allayed by the team.
 
^We are working very hard to inform interested people in the community and if we need to come back and hold a similar event again in six months we will.^
 
Preparatory works start on November 28 before substantive works begin in January.
 
Michael Bunker, 69, of Alderman Willey Close, said: ^I think Wokingham needed a station years ago ^ it^s disgusting at the moment.
 
^The design is nothing like the old Victorian one they pulled down years ago but it serves a purpose.
 
^We overlook the back of the station car park and there^s always work going on there at night.
 
^My main concern is how much work will be going on at night and how disruptive it^s going to be. They say there will only be a small proportion of night work. I^m sceptical.^
 
The station promises passengers shops, improved waiting areas and new information screens.
 
Ian Moorhouse, scheme project manager for Network Rail, said: ^It has the potential to bring more people to Wokingham and it will certainly encourage more people to travel by rail.
 
^By summer next year we will have a facility Wokingham can be proud of.
 
^A lot of thought has gone into the design and we want to use materials that compliment the existing buildings rather than going against them. There^s also going to be a lot of trees and greenery.^
 
Wokingham MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) John Redwood said: ^m encouraged by what I^m hearing but there have been so many false starts I^ll believe it when I see the bulldozers moving in.
 
^I look forward to a new station and it looks a lot better than what^s there now.^
 
Piermario Bonomi, 31, of Bracknell, who was at the exhibition, said: ^It looks modern and I don^t know how much it will fit with Wokingham and its historic heritage but much better than what^s there today. With the link road added I think it^s a good overall project.^
 
He was particularly pleased to see the footbridge will include a lift.
 
^My parents come to this station from Gatwick when they arrive from Italy,^ he said. ^The current bridge is very slippy and has no elevator for their heavy luggage so it^s always been a pain for them to cross platforms.^

There is an artist's impression of the proposed front of the station in the article.  I'm sure when Chris from Nailsea has finished his dinner he'll work out how to post it! 

[Chris from Nailsea]

Cheeky git! 

Rail bosses say Wokingham will be able to take pride in the ^6 million train station when it opens next summer

That's a pint you owe me. 

[JayMac]

Is the clock tower with the mahoosive 'double arrow' logo really necessary?

Yes, it looks good, but what of the cost for this cosmetic embellishment.

[Chris from Nailsea]

A pint for each of us, from bobm. 

[bobm]

If they rebuild the Molly Millars pub opposite the station (or whatever it is called these days) I'd stand you one there!  Otherwise there is a trusty Wetherspoons a ten minute walk away.  Not that I particularly want to go to Wokingham in the near future!!

Where's the Coffee Shop Christmas party this year?

As to the matter in hand I think that tower will look out of place and not really necessary.

[Chris from Nailsea]

On a rather more serious note: is that tower in fact to be part of the new lift / footbridge structure (allowing for the inevitable artistic licence, obviously)?

[ellendune]

The clock is an absolute necesity for any 19th century so that people arriving for their train can find out the correct "railway time" and can find that they have (a) plenty of time and can amble the last few yards; (b) have missed it already (ditto); or (c) are just about to miss it so run and get knocked down by a horse and carriage crossing the road.  

[bobm]

On a rather more serious note: is that tower in fact to be part of the new lift / footbridge structure (allowing for the inevitable artistic licence, obviously)?

I did wonder that but from that angle it seems a lot higher that what appears to be a footbridge in the foreground.   Also if it is a lift tower it would need a footbridge to get passengers over the line once it had elevated them above track level and would they really build two footbridges at a station of Wokingham's size?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Fair comment.

However, after doing a bit of digging on the internet, I've found another image from the Wokingham Times:



That's another pint you owe me. 

[JayMac]

K. The tower is only a few bricks thick. Not too expensive then. I could knock that up in less than three months, even with my limited bricklaying skills. 

Only took me two and a bit weeks to build the wall in the back garden. Four foot high, ten feet long and two bricks thick. 

[bobm]

Looks very impressive compared to what is there now.  Meanwhile it looks like there has been some sort of aerial dog fight in the skies above it!   

CfN - I have added the pint to your tab.

[paul7575]

The original 2011 NR^» (Network Rail - home page) press release here:

http://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/News-Releases/6105/PLANS-REVEALED-FOR-NEW-STATION-AT-WOKINGHAM

...includes four drawings, and it looks as though the recent news is just re-using old images. 

Can't see any sign of lifts though, so is the 'step free access' simply level access from either of two entrances?

Paul

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Wokingham Times:

Train station cafe owner fears end of the line with new station

A retailer fears his business could reach the end of the line as Wokingham^s new railway station approaches. Jas Sohal, owner of Steamers internet caf^ at Wokingham station, is accusing rail bosses of bullying him out of business.

The caf^ was served an eviction notice in November, nine months before the new station is due to open, and will be forced to tender for new retail space, which could see it out muscled by a chain.

Mr Sohal said: ^South West Trains are getting rid of the smaller operators and bringing in chain brands. You see the same ones in every station. Wokingham has a tradition of independent quality retailers and this could be a nail in its coffin. The station doesn^t warrant a tender process. There^s absolutely no need for it. We^ve been very reliable tenants. Could they not give us first refusal? I don^t understand why they want to get rid of us.^

The Winnersh father-of-three added: ^The business is finished if we don^t secure the lease. We are asking them to communicate and negotiate with us.^

Mr Sohal has vowed to start a petition to show the community^s desire to save the company.

His wife Simmi added: ^Customers say they want us to be there ^ they are so happy with the service. Staff at the ticket office have even written to them to ask if we could stay. We are scared. This is our livelihood and they^re behaving like big bullies.^

Steamers has been open since 2005 and the Sohals feel it has become an integral part of the station. ^We open the station every morning,^ Mr Sohal explained. ^We open at 4.30am in time for the first train to Gatwick at 4.40am. Rain or shine we are always there.^

The cafe secured an extension to its lease until Monday after MP^▸ (Member of Parliament) John Redwood intervened but the couple fear for the future as they attempt to negotiate an extension to May.

Mr Sohal said: ^I don^t understand why they would want nine months with no retail unit before the new station opens, but they said it was short term pain for long term gain.^

Mark Walton, Wokingham Chamber of Commerce chairman, added: ^m sure the people of Wokingham and the rail passengers will have their say if they can^t get a coffee or a newspaper before the new station is open.^

He added he understands why South West Trains is choosing to go to tender, but reaffirmed his support for local traders.

Mr Redwood added: ^I want the best for Wokingham in that space. I can understand why they [South West Trains] want an open process and it^s sensible to look at what^s on offer.^

A South West Trains-Network Rail Alliance spokeswoman said: ^We are working on a major redevelopment of Wokingham station which will deliver improved passenger facilities. As part of this, we are taking the opportunity to review the services available at the station and will be introducing a enhanced new tenancy unit. We have been in close discussion with the existing tenant over these plans for some months and remain in discussions over future opportunities.^