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

[whole diary]

[Mark A]

Perhaps members of this forum could nominate additional stations to host statues and play a part in this "The Line to Legend Land" promotion.

How about... Maiden Newton, a six mile walk from the Cerne Abbas Giant?  Next, we need an appropriate brief for the design of a statue for MDN. Anyone?

Mark

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Major £72.5m revamp at Temple Meads nears completion

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The team of engineers has worked for six years on the project

A six-year project to refurbish a 152-year-old Grade I listed railway station building is nearing completion, after a £72.5m refurbishment.

Network Rail engineers have changed over 1,200 roof glazing panels, repaired 2,500 pieces of steel work at Bristol Temple Meads station, and re-wired the electrical system throughout the building.

Joanna Grew, from Network Rail, said: "It is part of a much bigger scheme to regenerate the Bristol area and the whole Bristol Temple Quarter. Whilst the scaffolding was up it really was a dark place but slowly we've been taking that scaffolding down and unveiling what is the beautiful station - a bit like opening a present at Christmas."

Grew explained the scale of the project expanded once work started: "We originally thought there would only be 250 repairs, and actually that number was 2,500. We will be over the next few years looking to renovate various parts of the station which will bring in much better food and beverage and commercial opportunities," she added.

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Hundreds of glazing panels on the roof have been replaced

As well as the roof refurbishment, a new entrance has been constructed which will link to the University of Bristol's new campus next to the station.

To ensure the work was carried out safely, a huge scaffolding structure was built above where the trains ran.

James Shelley, lead portfolio manager, said: "We had a lot of responsibility to make sure we were sympathetic to the heritage of the station."

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The new station interior is much brighter after the refurbishment

"We're incredibly proud of the work that we've done on site, these projects are a bit like onions. When you peel it back and find elements you didn't realise were there when you started it can be daunting. We're really at a point now where there's light at the end of the tunnel, but passengers can now look up and see the good work that's been done," he added.

[Noggin]

Right, so the station's rewired to modern standards, we know the ironwork in the roof is sound, the temporary structures are out of the way, the east junction work is done - when is the overhead electrification going up (and how much of it can we get the Welsh to pay for)?

[JohnM]

Apologies if this has already been posted - it's the view through the little viewing window at the far end of the subway (under platforms 13/15), on Monday:

(how do I resize it?)

I have added "width=800" to the img tag - grahame

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[Mark A]

Thanks for this, peeped through it on Saturday and was amazed at the provision (amazed in a good way) but didn't take a photo.

Mark

[Western Pathfinder]

The low spring sunshine should light that up nicely,say early May ?..

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Construction of flagship University of Bristol campus complete

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The building will open to students in September - Image © TQEC

The final phase of construction of a £500m new university campus has been completed ahead of it being opened to students in September.

The University of Bristol's Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus has been built next to Temple Meads station and will house 4,600 students, 650 members of staff and a hub for start-ups.

The university bought the site from Bristol City Council in 2017 and the derelict Royal Mail sorting office on the site was demolished in 2019 to make way for the new building.

Furniture and equipment are due to be moved into the building in the next four months. The campus is part of the 135-hectare transformation of Bristol Temple Quarter, the UK^▸ (United Kingdom)'s largest regeneration project.

The campus will be connected by an eastern entrance to Temple Meads via a new public space called University Square.

There will also be a new harbour walkway, funded by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority, connecting University Square to Temple Quay with new walking and cycling routes.

More than half of the workforce that constructed the building came from the local region.

Drone footage of the new building shows a six-storey atrium, a ground floor Exchange Hall that will be open to the public and internal gardens for students and staff. There is also a 300-seat lecture theatre in the round to to increase participation.

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The university's deputy vice chancellor said the building was a "major milestone" - Image © TQEC

Professor Judith Squires, Bristol University's deputy vice chancellor, said:  "Today marks a major milestone in our drive to create a vibrant new connected campus in the heart of the city. It's inspiring to see our new building come to life and I'm hugely grateful to everyone who has worked so hard to get us to this point. I look forward to welcoming students, innovation and community partners and staff to join us in our new campus in September."

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The atrium has a view of the city - Image © TQEC

Mayor of the West of England Helen Godwin, said: "Today's completion is a big step towards unlocking the wider potential of Bristol Temple Quarter and thousands more new jobs and new homes for our region. The old Royal Mail building that stood on this site was once called the chipped tooth in the city's smile. In this new chapter, I'm happy to say that derelict site is now a distant memory as we look forward to opening Bristol Temple Meads' new eastern entrance, walkways along the harbour and the new campus in September."

[Phantom]

Who designed a round room with two great pillars in the middle of the presentation area

[Chris from Nailsea]

Who designed a round room with two great pillars in the middle of the presentation area

An architect with brutalist tendencies. 

[johnneyw]

According to the University of Bristol website, the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus is due to open on the 8th Sept.  Has anyone heard anything about the new Temple Meads east entrance opening to coincide with this?  Have they even installed the new gates yet?

[IndustryInsider]

It says ‘Opening Autumn 2026’ on the hoardings protecting the worksite, so I’d imagine it’ll open then, though you can’t really see what’s going on because of the hoardings.

[Trowres]

I wonder how the seats in the "round room" compare with those on IETs^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan))?

[Noggin]

According to the University of Bristol website, the Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus is due to open on the 8th Sept.  Has anyone heard anything about the new Temple Meads east entrance opening to coincide with this?  Have they even installed the new gates yet?

Yes, all installed and ready to go AFAIK^▸ ('as far as I know'). There are definitely photos online.

As it happens, I took a detour on the way to work and walked past it this morning. The university plaza looks very smart indeed with paving and planting complete, just a few workers applying finishing touches.

Incidentally, the floating walkway along the river from the university to Temple Quay looks nearly complete, I think they just have the final ramp at the Temple Quay end to level and pave.

[johnneyw]

It looks like the east entrance opening time and date will be 16.00 on 7th September according to the Network Rail announcement (link below).

https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/new-station-entrance-to-open-at-temple-meads-transforming-access-to-the-railway-and-creating-a-new-gateway-to-bristol

[IndustryInsider]

It looks like the east entrance opening time and date will be 16.00 on 7th September according to the Network Rail announcement (link below).

https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/new-station-entrance-to-open-at-temple-meads-transforming-access-to-the-railway-and-creating-a-new-gateway-to-bristol

Indeed.  The hoardings have now been replaced with temporary barriers and a big poster saying the same thing.