The Bristol Railway Archive

Reported on here months ago by Stumpytrain, but now making the newspapers:

From the Bristol Evening Post

Temple Meads station could get a multi-storey car park, a new main entrance and a ticket office in a radical plan to redesign the station.

Multi-million pound plans could see the old red-brick terminal, known as the Passenger Shed, become the main entrance and home to the ticket office.And when the building - currently used as a car park - becomes the entrance, the underground walkway to the platforms will be extended to meet it.

Under the plans Station Approach, the current road to the station off Temple Gate, would be used for buses and taxis only, with motorists accessing the new multi-storey car park behind the station via Friary, the road which links the new Temple Quay development to the Temple Circus Gyratory roundabout.

The new car park could bring relief to passengers who currently face stiff charges to park at Temple Meads. The minimum charge to park outside the Passenger Shed on a weekday is ú7.50 and inside parking starts at ú11. Parking on Station Approach is limited to one hour.

The ambitious plans are being put together by the South West Regional Development Agency and Network Rail, which plan to bring a developer on board to carry them out.

Although nothing has yet been finalised, the proposals could also see a stretch of land running alongside the Passenger Shed - also currently used for parking - freed up for shops, offices, and possibly a hotel.

The proposals form part of the overall Temple Quay development.

New offices have already been built south of the Floating Harbour and more are now under way on the other side. Hundreds of homes are also being built, and a new ú1.7 million footbridge across the Floating Harbour, which will be lit up at night, is to be installed.

Ian Knight, West of England head of operations for the South West of England Regional Development Agency, said: "A key attraction of Temple Quarter is the close proximity of Temple Meads station, with easy access to London, Birmingham and further afield.

"From the earliest stages of master planning this new quarter, it has been an aspiration to improve the transport interchange in order to raise the profile of Bristol as a key business location and encourage even more rail use.

"The agency is now working closely with Network Rail and other partners on proposals for upgraded station facilities, which will be married with new development opportunities around Temple Meads station." The RDA said that by next spring it would be looking for a developer to express an interest in taking on the Temple Meads project.

Network Rail spokeswoman Kirsty Anderson said: "This is an exciting time for the area and we are pleased to be involved in the planning. As part of our continued investment to improve stations across our network, we are working with the South West of England Regional Development Agency and First Great Western to revitalise Bristol Temple Meads station.

"Among the aspirations are new car parking facilities, a new ticket office, easier access to the station's platforms and improvements to the interchange outside the station."

The sort of development described in this article is to be applauded:
Temple Meads station is a listed building, so there is little that can be done to change the existing infrastructure. Moving private cars from the approach road would be a good start; it would release valuable space for buses and taxis.
The booking hall suffers from congestion and is not entirely welcoming as a portal to rail travel. A new booking hall is much needed and if Network Rail can work with the private sector to provide one, along with new retail units, then all to the good.
Railway stations around the country are benefitting from investment by Network Rail and the private sector: you only have to look at work carried out at such stations as Paddington, Liverpool Street, Leeds, etc.,
to see how good the improvements are.
I'm sure that the plans for Temple Meads will be good for the travelling public, whilst conserving the beauty of the station as it is.

Yes, but how would you like a multi story car park being built in front of the only windows you have that let any kind of natural light into your workplace? I'm going to go NIMBI on this one!

Alex

I'm sure we all appreciate that Temple Meads is badly sited to serve the city centre, and that this has prevented railways from contributing to Bristol's transport system to the extent they have in other cities. I'm all in favour of developments that make the Temple Meads area a destination in its own right, rather than just a dismal traffic-clogged transit zone.

AndyK wrote:I'm sure we all appreciate that Temple Meads is badly sited to serve the city centre, and that this has prevented railways from contributing to Bristol's transport system to the extent they have in other cities.

The Redcliffe line to the docks would have been perfect for a shuttle serving the city centre. It could even have served Ashton, Parson Street, and Bemmie in a circular route.

I would like to see a better bus service linking Temple Meads station to the city centre. The current service is pretty poor, with long gaps in a service which is supposed to be very frequent.
Integrated train and bus tickets are available, but not widely promoted.
This is something that First should be addressing, now that they have a virtual monopoly in the public transport sector in Bristol.
For many years services 8 and 9 were run using hand-me-down vehicles from London, and before that there were the dreadful Mercedes minibuses. First have now employed new buses on these services, but more bus priority schemes are needed to keep the buses moving. For instance, the buses used on the 8's and 9's could be fitted with transponders to give them priority at traffic lights, particularly at the bottom of the approach road where they have to wait in a lengthy queue to turn right.
And while I'm on my high horse, Bristol needs a park and ride site at the top of the M32: I worked 1V04 down this morning and I noticed the traffic going into Bristol was queuing back onto the M4. The congestion charge in London has been deemed a success and I think it's high time such a scheme was introduced in Bristol. Imagine the M32 between eight and nine in the morning virtually free of private cars, the main traffic being a high frequency quality bus service.....
I'm finished now, but I expect this thread will run and run........

A better walking / cycling route from TM to the City Centre, would be good.

Whenever I arrive by train for business meetings, I feel that I am taking my life in my hands crossing the roads, even where there are lights.