Footbridge, Brentwood, 13 year campaign so far

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Out of our area, but a BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Article reminding us of the need to keep pressing for improved facilities.

People with disabilities say they still cannot catch a train from their local Essex station to London because a lift has not been installed.

The Brentwood Access Group (BAG) first started campaigning for better access at the town railway station in 2010.

Lifts were installed on platforms 1-3 as part of the Elizabeth line Tube network, but not on the London-bound platform four.

Transport for London (TfL^» (Transport for London - about)) said there were "technical challenges".

The article doesn't go deep enough to explain what the challenges are, but the fact that it quotes the words suggests to me that it's an opinion rather than an agreed fact.  Of course, challenges can usually be met and conquered where there's a will.

I celebrate the new north lift at Chippenham (though it has been having teething problems) and would very much like to see an alternative to the stepped footbridge at Trowbridge which does not involve a walk via the two Station Approaches, Trinity Square, and whatever the main road over the railway to the south of the station is called.

[froome]

Ditto Bradford-on-Avon.

[Ralph Ayres]

The problem at Brentwood is partly that the station is now run by Transport for London, who as noted did fund lifts to 3 platforms, no doubt the simplest ones to do, despite Brentwood being in Essex.  Part of the "challenge" is probably that TfL^» (Transport for London - about) don't want to spend too much money on a station well outside London and think either the local authority, or Greater Anglia as the other train operator serving Brentwood, or the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), should fund further work.

[Mark A]

Brentwood. The station used by my great uncle as he set out in company for the front in WW1 via an express to Liverpool Street, the circle line to Westminster and then Waterloo to Southampton. Given the number of war injuries from that conflict, you'd rather hope that this had been sorted for Brentwood by 1923 let alone 2023.

Mark

[stuving]

The problem at Brentwood is partly that the station is now run by Transport for London, who as noted did fund lifts to 3 platforms, no doubt the simplest ones to do, despite Brentwood being in Essex.  Part of the "challenge" is probably that TfL^» (Transport for London - about) don't want to spend too much money on a station well outside London and think either the local authority, or Greater Anglia as the other train operator serving Brentwood, or the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about), should fund further work.

Perhaps surprisingly, the lifts serve both main line platforms, but only the up side used by TfL. The station entrance is at overbridge level, and there is no obvious place for a lift next to the station building. Also, that platform does have step-free access - it's just a long (about 170 m) route via the road giving vehicle access.

[Kernow Otter]

The Lostwithiel FB took ten years of campaigning, and should be installed in the spring of 2024