Wokingham Station improvements

[whole diary]

[ianatwokers]

Hi all

Having just moved into the area and deciding my walk to the station is just a bit to far I have decided to cycle instead.
The old cycle racks get full and people are locking up their bikes against trees and road signs.

I thought I'll wait until the new racks go in as they should massively increase the capacity. However from the rack that has just been installed there seems to little or no increase in the amount of spaces?

Are they going install some more racks (Or leave the old ones in)    If not this seems like a bad bit of planning, especially as the council are supposed to be encouraging people to use their cycles more.

[stuving]

The submitted plans showed racks for 76 cycles in the "cage", and none anywhere else. I've had a quick look and there are indeed 76 new "high-rise" racks, and 25 steel hoops currently in use. I assume that should hold 50 bikes? So you are right - not much of an increase.

There will be a long steel railing beyond the new racks - some of it is already there - so I guess any overflow will use that, unless extreme measures are taken to prevent it. If "they" (SWT^▸ (South West Trains), I guess) complain that's untidy, you can reply that it just shows there isn't enough space provided.

And of course I must offer a warm welcome to this forum - and to Wokingham, for that matter.

[stuving]

While I didn't wait up for the footbridge to be lifted into position, the Wokingham Times photographer did - if you are interested see http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/local-news/new-footbridge-gives-wokingham-train-5678375.

There was a letter to the paper (14th August - I can't find it on line) headed "New bridge looks utterly monstrous". This includes the line "we have lost so many historic and lovely buildings..." - surely she is not referring to the old footbridge (see reminder attached)?

She ends with "I look at the front page of The Wokingham Times and see Bracknell. Just terrible".  Note how this is the worst possible put-down, for a true Wokingham resident.

Personally I think the new bridge does look cheap, but it is not finished yet and whether it looks out of place will depend on how the new station looks as well.

[argg]

I agree with Stuving the old footbridge (and current ticket office) are hardly historic or lovely buildings

As a Wokingham resident I am amused by the comments made in the local press from the Wokingham Society wanting something that reflects the character of the market town (what do they want, something made of oak?) and the Society's Chairman who "had not been down to the station, but knew what to expect" (I wonder which newspaper he reads?)

If the artist impression of the new building is correct then I think it will be a massive improvement (currently much more "Bracknell" than "Wokingham") and given most views of the station will be from Station Road/car park side, the station and the new footbridge is totally in keeping with the light industrial units in Oxford Road (which can be seen in some of the photos in this thread).

If Wokingham were still a picture postcard market town with twee tea rooms and "ye olde gifte shoppes" then they might have a point.

I may have my own views on whether we really need a Premier Inn (and associated chain Pub/Restaurant) and ANOTHER supermarket, but the town certainly needs regenerating and if market forces mean that's what it takes to pay for it...so be it.  It is a market town after all!

Now if SWT^▸ (South West Trains) could also see their way to laying on fast or semi fast trains to Waterloo I would be inclined to use my bicycle and travel from WOK rather than drive to TWY^▸ (Twyford station) each morning.

[paul7575]

The footbridge and steps are NR^» (Network Rail - home page) 'modular structures' and minor variations on the standard design are being fitted all over the network AFAICS^▸ (As Far As I Can See), under the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)'s Access for All budget, not just in SWT^▸ (South West Trains)'s area or the wider south, but nationally.

So the fundamental question is why do the 'Wokingham Society' seriously believe they should get something specifically different/better designed for this station, out of the dozens all over the country that the 'Access for All' scheme is paying for?  Sorry but I just don't get this criticism at all...

At least they've taken the brickwork all the way up the lift towers, there's many places have got far worse finishes. 

Fratton:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/backfrompari/6133648884/

Fareham:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnoram/5332695085/

IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) Twyford has similar metal-clad boxes?

Paul

 

[stuving]

The Wokingham Society commented on the plans submitted for planning approval. As railways can do much as they like, the council are only required to approve the overall character as suitable for the site, and the WS commented on that question. I have no real idea what they, or the council, would find suitable - but the council only quibbled about some of the finishes and in most cases that was due to a misleading drawing.

We had another example of this - the pub next door but one to me, which has just been demolished (I remind you I live very close to the station - within earshot of the crossing bell, if a window's open). The developers applied to build a pair of semis very like the pub in outline, and one or two little bungalows behind it, as the gardens are pretty long. The council refused permission on the grounds the bungalows were out of character - largely by being single-storey! The planning officer said the character of the houses round the periphery of the block is 2-storey, as if that is relevant to something in the middle.

There was another detached house next door to the pub, which was replaced by a pair of semis 40 years ago, and it had (and they have) a pair of 2-storey cottages in its back garden. The planner did not cite that as relevant, as he evidently thinks (as do I, and said so in my comments) that they are out of character, and have been for 150 years.

The final irony is that when their revised plans were refused, they appealed and were successful, and one of the inspector's arguments was that the cottages on the next plot were also single storey. Sometimes I wonder what the point of this planning system is.

[stuving]

The last month has seen a lot of detailed fitting out of the station, but no big milestones. All of the walls are finished, internal and external, the glazing frames in place, and glazing has started. The roof cladding has been completed too, so the guard rail around it has gone.

The footbridge looks more complete, with all the glazing in, and most of the visible fiddly bits - rainwater pipes, cable trunking, ground surface - now done. Wiring and fitting the lifts may take a bit longer.The diesel generator at the North side was sent back to Speedy within a week of the bridge arriving, but the cable that allows that is a temporary one looped through the bridge.

The other footbridge - the public one - is of course a listed structure, which I presume places a responsibility on NR^» (Network Rail - home page) (or possibly SWT^▸ (South West Trains)) to maintain it. I think they need to do more about this - it's getting past just needing a lick of paint.

[stuving]

We can now see real progress, with the footbridge carrying passengers and two big black cables (now inside the plastic pipes provided for the purpose). The station building appears to be fully glazed as well, and from the footbridge you can see what they have been doing to the roof. Still lots of details to finish, no doubt, but it looks promising.

The footbridge was much used on Saturday - as you may known there was a fatality at Earley and the line from Reading was closed for two and a half hours. I was initially not very impressed by the response to this, but having looked at it a bit more I think that's unfair. Yes, the information coming by announcements and on the screens was confused and confusing, but when there was a train to board (or not, depending on where it was going) that did improve.

A new signal was installed a few years ago so that Wokingam can be operated as a terminus - albeit only with one platform - and the timetable fits very well with turning trains round quickly. SWT^▸ (South West Trains)'s interim service was actually pretty good - no worse than one 70 minute interval in a 30 minute service. FGW^▸ (First Great Western)'s was a bit less so, which I am sure was because they need to send a new crew from Reading to take a train back out.

The trains to Gatwick are really only hourly, with two arriving almost at once, and of course people use them to catch planes. I think their target should be to limit the interval between trains (or connections) into Gatwick to two hours - which was missed by 20 minutes. The train in question left Wokingham 100 minutes after the incident that closed the line, and it should be possible to do that a bit quicker. But still, the basic emergency plan seemed to work.

I can't really comment on how well replacement transport performed, as I didn't use it. As usual, the buses arrived too late to do much, so before that people were herded onto the (apparently plentiful) taxis.

[stuving]

As you can see, we now have something that really does look like a railway station. No sign of that "totem plank" yet, not even a foundation. What looks like the steel for its armature has been around for ages, and several times has been moved out of the way as work advances across the site.

According to the head councillor for transport, the link road past the station was being held up by the station build being late. The last we heard it was still due to open this month, but I can't believe that will be met now - not quite. He also said it wasn't easy to find an engineering company to take on a contract for the traffic lights, to be linked with the level crossing, but that "Network rail were happy".

It rained last weekend, and I'll give you one guess whether the footbridge roof leaked. Of course it did! And where? The flat sections, where they meet something a bit higher: on the half-landings, and from the main span to the lifts.

[stuving]

Wokingham new railway station to open in mid-October

Passengers will be able to start using the new Wokingham railway station "in the next few weeks" following a ^6m rebuild.

The official opening is on 14 November but South Western Railway said it wanted to open the Berkshire station to the public "as soon as possible".

The project was due to be completed in August, but issues with ground works caused delays.

The station will be officially opened by Transport minister Norman Baker.

The upgrade includes a new main building with retail units, lifts and a footbridge.

The former station building will be demolished once the new adjacent facility is ready for use.

Robin Ashton, from the Wokingham Chamber of Commerce, said: "We are delighted and it is very good news for the town.

"But we will be more pleased on the 14th (of November) when the site is properly delivered".

A South Western Railway spokesperson said more than two million journeys were made through Wokingham station each year.

She added the upgrade would "encourage more passengers to travel by rail to work and for pleasure".

I thought as I walked past today that it looked as if the name had been put up.

Photo caption: The new station building was constructed alongside the existing building, which will now be demolished

[Southern Stag]

The interior of the new building looked pretty much fitted out today, and lots of work being done on the lifts too.

[stuving]

Today, with no fuss or notice, the station was open. It looks very empty, though it was meant to have some retail provision. I guess that'll be the bring-your-own-booth kind.

It also sounds very empty - given all the hard surfaces of the glass, floor, and plastered walls, together with the high ceiling, it really needed acoustic treatment on the ceiling, and seems to have none at all.

I was looking at the lift, which I had thought was not ready as it has a visible "out of order" sign and no call button. But I wonder if you have to use the "press to speak" button and ask to use it. There is nothing to tell you that, and I doubt anyone would guess unless they are literally unable to attempt the stairs (like in a wheelchair).

[stuving]

As soon as the new station building was in use, the old one was fenced off and work started stripping out pipes, wires etc. Then last week the shelter on platform 2 was fenced off and similarly stripped out. And yesterday it had been knocked flat and by this afternoon carted away, leaving a bare concrete raft. The old station will be gone soon, and as the roads outside (apart from the new link road) are well advanced, it's not far from being finished.

[paul7575]

Do you know if they putting any shelters on the up or down platforms at all?  I'm not really sure if the new building includes a canopy at all, but IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) the only shelter on the Reading bound platform was the old building wasn't it?

Paul

[stuving]

The plans showed two short canopies on platform 2, but one of them was to go where the new footbridge now is. So we end up with even less than the old shelter.

On platform 1 there is also a bit of canopy from the station to the footbridge, but again not much - though in this case we end up with more shelter than there used to be.

Incidentally, the station is built without barriers. The plans show where they would go, if fitted in the station building. There's no indication of what barrier there might be on platform 2, nor even if there will be a TVM^▸ (Ticket Vending Machine) (as there is now).