Bristol Temple Meads - station, facilities, incidents and events (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

Sorry, but I won't be there after all.  I had to go out this morning and my return has been / is being significantly delayed (not train related).

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

[johnneyw]

Arrived a bit early here.  Had a stroll past the floating walkway just as the works team opened it up.  I'm now officially the second member of the general public to us it...beaten by a couple of metres by a lady who turned out to be a lecturer at the new campus.
There's a bit of a bun fight going on in the campus building right now but the speaking to the events team and security,, I was told I was welcome to have a look around after 16.00.  Might even do that


Edit to add that the events team and security chap may have slightly over enthused regarding access to the uni campus building after 16.00 today.  Turns out we the great unwashed are not allowed in until tomorrow.  Pity, there seemed to be some glasses of fizz unsullied by human lips still in there!

[chuffed]

 I was third through from the inside ....beaten by a couple of  lads who seem to have finished their first day at secondary school !

I too saw the untouched fizz but got a snazzy bag for my trouble!

[johnneyw]

I too saw the untouched fizz but got a snazzy bag for my trouble!

Ah yes, I was handed one of those TM^▸ (Train Manager, or Ticket Machine, or Temple Meads (Bristol), depending on context) Eastern Entrance bags on my way in to catch the train back to Redland.  I seem to have acquired a bit of a collection of these commemorative railway bags over the years.

[TaplowGreen]

I hear the new entrance etc cost £23 million,  surely that can't be true? Does anyone know the actual figure?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Andy Burnham?  That would be a good one to ask him at his next PMQ time, bearing in mind his apparent interest in the Portishead Line.

CfN^▸ (Chris from Nailsea, an administrator on this forum). 

[Western Pathfinder]

As far as I’ve been lead to believe the lion’s share of the entrance work and area outside was funded by the university and development authority?..

[Noggin]

I hear the new entrance etc cost £23 million,  surely that can't be true? Does anyone know the actual figure?

Apparently so, and I believe part of £94m allocated for the three new entrances (South, East and I presume the renovations and public realm around the Midland Shed on the north side).

Yes, it's a bonkers amount of money but take a look at the photo at https://www.bristoltemplequarter.com/news/eastern-entrance-reaches-construction-milestone-with-building-shell-complete/ - there's more to it than you think, don't forget that it all had to be done around a live railway just metres away from passengers and the underpass.

Incidentally, the floating footpath to Temple Quay apparently cost £10m. I believe that was paid for by the University as a planning condition.   

[grahame]

Passed through their yesterday
I am intrigued how much use it will get and how much increased footfall there will be going the opposite way to normal at the station

The estimate was 2m people p/a - so 20% of station users-ish

Now - is that 2 million abstracted from the main entrance, or two million new customers?    And if the latter, where are the extra carriages on trains like the Cross Country ones, and the services to Cardiff and via Bradford-on-Avon to cope?

[TaplowGreen]

I hear the new entrance etc cost £23 million,  surely that can't be true? Does anyone know the actual figure?

Apparently so, and I believe part of £94m allocated for the three new entrances (South, East and I presume the renovations and public realm around the Midland Shed on the north side).

Yes, it's a bonkers amount of money but take a look at the photo at https://www.bristoltemplequarter.com/news/eastern-entrance-reaches-construction-milestone-with-building-shell-complete/ - there's more to it than you think, don't forget that it all had to be done around a live railway just metres away from passengers and the underpass.

Incidentally, the floating footpath to Temple Quay apparently cost £10m. I believe that was paid for by the University as a planning condition.   

"Bonkers" sums it up quite well.

[ChrisB]

Incidentally, the floating footpath to Temple Quay apparently cost £10m. I believe that was paid for by the University as a planning condition.   

Is this lit at night? Any separators between pedestrians & pushbikes - in either direction?

Not very safe then? Would you use it after supper?

[Phantom]

I hear the new entrance etc cost £23 million,  surely that can't be true? Does anyone know the actual figure?

From a friend who supervised the work on the new entrance...

I worked on that job in summer 2024. Absolute clusterf**k.
Roof Steels all need redrilling as they sagged under their own weight, requiring a crane and us using handheld drills instead of magdrills…
Bomb proof glass all round except the cladding that hod 3mm galvanised steel sheets behind, nothing was coming out the factory correct and the building leaked like a sieve until recently.
Main company went bust after the job.
No wonder it ended up costing so much!!

Everything else is caked in bird poo

[Phantom]

Incidentally, the floating footpath to Temple Quay apparently cost £10m. I believe that was paid for by the University as a planning condition.   

Is this lit at night? Any separators between pedestrians & pushbikes - in either direction?

Not very safe then? Would you use it after supper?

Yes, there is lighting built into the sides of the walkway, it is very well lit

There is a blue line down the middle of the pathway indicating the cyclepath / walkway, though not all signage has been painted onto the walkway yet

[TaplowGreen]

I hear the new entrance etc cost £23 million,  surely that can't be true? Does anyone know the actual figure?

From a friend who supervised the work on the new entrance...

I worked on that job in summer 2024. Absolute clusterf**k.
Roof Steels all need redrilling as they sagged under their own weight, requiring a crane and us using handheld drills instead of magdrills…
Bomb proof glass all round except the cladding that hod 3mm galvanised steel sheets behind, nothing was coming out the factory correct and the building leaked like a sieve until recently.
Main company went bust after the job.
No wonder it ended up costing so much!!

Everything else is caked in bird poo

...........somehow I doubt that made the Press release - but always good to have the view from those on the ground rather than the Marketing Department!!! 

[Noggin]

Passed through their yesterday
I am intrigued how much use it will get and how much increased footfall there will be going the opposite way to normal at the station

The estimate was 2m people p/a - so 20% of station users-ish

Now - is that 2 million abstracted from the main entrance, or two million new customers?    And if the latter, where are the extra carriages on trains like the Cross Country ones, and the services to Cardiff and via Bradford-on-Avon to cope?

Dunno about new vs existing, but the Portishead line's business case forecast 1.2 million extra journeys by 2040, so the way these things usually work, expect 2m by 2030.

IIRC^▸ ('if I recall/remember/read correctly') there's supposed to be a GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) rolling stock procurement plan published by the end of this year. The suggestion was that GBR/DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) were waiting to see the results of the Scottish rolling stock procurement exercise, and then would add theirs if they liked what they saw.