Tilehurst station footbridge

[whole diary]

[john_boler]

Work is under way to build a new footbridge at Tilehurst station, as part of the Great Western track electrification programme. You can see the approved plans here: http://planninghome.reading.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=MHCEGIMS01X00. The design includes "passive" provision for later addition of passenger lifts. MIGGS (Mobility Issues Group for Goring and Streatley) is campaigning to have lifts added at the same time that the footbridge is rebuilt at Goring and Streatley station, also a part of the electrification programme. You can follow MIGGS on facebook, at: https://www.facebook.com/MobilityIssuesGroupForGoringAndStreatley?ref=stream.

[IndustryInsider]

Thanks for posting the links, and welcome to the forum.

Is there a similar application in for Goring's footbridge yet?  I wonder whether the opportunity to extend the 'down main' platform will be taken at the same time at Goring, given that it's current usable length is just 69 metres, and if 4-car 20 metre electric trains will be using it that's not long enough without SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) being used.

The case for lifts being installed is a difficult one.  There's a similar argument for other stations where footbridges will need to be altered/replaced as part of the scheme, and (as is the case near Oxford) others are, or will be, pushing for disabled access at 'their' bridge, but obviously the cost to each location of providing lifts or ramps eats into the budget.

[DidcotPunter]

Thanks for posting the links, and welcome to the forum.

Is there a similar application in for Goring's footbridge yet?  I wonder whether the opportunity to extend the 'down main' platform will be taken at the same time at Goring, given that it's current usable length is just 69 metres, and if 4-car 20 metre electric trains will be using it that's not long enough without SDO^▸ (Selective Door Opening) being used.

The case for lifts being installed is a difficult one.  There's a similar argument for other stations where footbridges will need to be altered/replaced as part of the scheme, and (as is the case near Oxford) others are, or will be, pushing for disabled access at 'their' bridge, but obviously the cost to each location of providing lifts or ramps eats into the budget.

Nothing on the planning application section of South Oxfordshire District Council's website yet so it seems that the plans for replacing the footbridges at Goring and Cholsey have not yet been submitted.

Moving further west, I understand that bridge replacement between Didcot and Swindon is scheduled for next year. The A338 bridge at Wantage Road (Grove) is planned for demolition on the weekend of 39/30th March and will take around 6 weeks to reopen. The A417 bridge at Challow is slated for demolition on the weekend of 11/12th October 2014 and will reopen in mid December.

I'm not sure about the timing for the other over-bridges on this section but I believe that bridges at Basil Hill Lane (entrance to Foxhall car park, Didcot), Steventon, Shrivenham, Bourton and on the east side of Swindon will be replaced.

[ellendune]

Moving further west, I understand that bridge replacement between Didcot and Swindon is scheduled for next year. The A338 bridge at Wantage Road (Grove) is planned for demolition on the weekend of 39/30th March and will take around 6 weeks to reopen. The A417 bridge at Challow is slated for demolition on the weekend of 11/12th October 2014 and will reopen in mid December.

I'm not sure about the timing for the other over-bridges on this section but I believe that bridges at Basil Hill Lane (entrance to Foxhall car park, Didcot), Steventon, Shrivenham, Bourton and on the east side of Swindon will be replaced.

That's going to cause some traffic disruption!

The bridge at Wantage Road was built for four tracks, but when the loops were restores it obviously did not quite meet the current requirements so the turnout on one side is just under the bridge.  I do hope they make it compatible with full four track formation.

Also there are other over-bridges between Didcot and Swindon that are on sections with four track formation, but currently only have two tracks.  It would be very short sighted not to renew these bridges as four track structures.

[DidcotPunter]

Yes we anticipate traffic chaos!  Diverting the local traffic through some of the villages like Denchworth won't be terribly popular either. However I can't think of any alternative.

Good point about allowing for four-tracking though I doubt if it'll happen except at Challow and maybe Wantage Road. I spoke to Richard Turner, Community Relations Advisor - Electrification for Network Rail. He emphasised that their budget for the project was very tight (well, he would wouldn't he) and that the bridges were being replaced on a like-for-like basis. This meant that any improvements - such as road widening, footpath improvements - would have to be funded from elsewhere, such as the local authority. Given this is Oxfordshire, it's unlikely to happen. There's controversy over the replacement of the footbridge in Hinksey at the moment, as Network Rail will only fund a basic replacement, whilst the locals want the replacement enhanced for disabled access. There's a standoff over who funds any enhancements.

[ellendune]

I am less worried about footbridges as (a) they are cheaper and (b) they are usually less disruptive to change. At Challow there are four tracks already so there is no problem. It is at Wantage that a slight widening would be in order. 

My main concern is the other bridges around Shrivenham that are four track and where there are currently only two.

[john_boler]

Mysteriously, the Tilehurst station footbridge planning application has disappeared from the Reading Borough Council planning website.

[IndustryInsider]

Though work has resumed on that bridge and also on the footbridge just west of the station which leads down to the River Thames.  I wouldn't walk down that stretch of the Thames Path at night though!

[didcotdean]

Work was due to begin on the Manor Bridge (A4310) in Didcot today, meaning closure until 5 August. Diversion via Station Road and Hitchcock Way.

[ray951]

Work was due to begin on the Manor Bridge (A4310) in Didcot today, meaning closure until 5 August. Diversion via Station Road and Hitchcock Way.

or, if not a lorry, I assume that Foxhall road and Basil Hill road is still open.
And what exactly are the doing to the bridge?


Also I note that they are working on the bridge over the Thames at Appleford. Is this maintenance rather than electrification work?

[didcotdean]

Well there are other ways round but what I said is the official (and signed) diversion.

It is for 'rail bridge maintenance and carriageway resurfacing work'.

[ANDYMO1962]

That's disappointing- I only have to lug my bike up & down stairs @ TLH but I see many families with pushchairs struggling with them. In this day & age I would have hoped that any opportunity to improve such faciilities should be grasped. Within the overall cost of the Reading area improvements I would have thought the cost of lifts @ Tilehurst wouldn't have registered!

[paul7575]

Welcome to the forum 'Andy'...

The problem with comparing the possible cost of Tilehurst lifts with the overall Reading area improvements is that they are separate issues completely, they just happen to be going on in parallel.  The footbridge rebuild is for OHLE clearance as part of the GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line) electrification project, as is the next footbridge along.

At the many stations where they have been fitting lifts in the last few years the lifts themselves have usually been paid for by the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about)'s ring-fenced 'Access for All' funding line, and that has yet another list of priority stations, which is mainly based on station usage, so Tilehurst probably must not have enough day to day usage to justify lifts.

Paul

 

[paul7575]

The three sets of steps and the main line span are in position at Tilehurst , the attached photo clearly shows the overall style. 

I noticed a small snag on the up relief side, the bottom flanges of the intermediate support legs have not lined up with the studs in the concrete footings, missing by a few cm, so the studs appear to have been sawn off flush.  I guess there'll be some sort of quick re-work will have to be done to solve that problem.

Paul

[IndustryInsider]

From what I've heard the old footbridge will be removed over the Christmas shutdown, so I'd expect the new footbridge to be opened in a month or so.