Preston Station improvements

[GRALISTAIR]

I have just read an article online in the Lancashire Evening Post. I will try and post a link shortly. (see post 5) Basically it is saying the signs in and outside and around the station are very confusing and even misleading and they are all going to be removed and well over100 new ones put up.

Good news in my opinion. I think they are confusing at times so I agree.

Here is the link

Major revamp of Preston station planned to 'end confusion'

Almost 200 new signs are to be erected in and around Preston railway station in an attempt to reduce the confusion caused by the current mix of "inconsistent" signage relied upon by travellers.

www.lep.co.uk

Here is a partial quote

Almost 200 new signs are to be erected in and around Preston railway station in an attempt to reduce the confusion caused by the current mix of "inconsistent" signage relied upon by travellers.
Avanti West Coast, which operates the busy interchange, has unveiled plans to remove all 261 signs that are currently dotted around the station and its car park - with 196 new ‘wayfinders’ to be installed. The company says the new signage will be "clearer and simpler to follow, improving navigation around the station”. It will “direct customers to all access routes, including the lifts, footbridges and subway” - and serve to improve health and safety by making escape routes, exits and help points “more visible” across the station. As part of facelift, eight new floor-mounted signs will be installed on the concourses, along with 37 wall-mounted pointers. Avanti undertook an audit of the station’s signs in January 2024, which found that they were “insufficient due to their lack of consistency [and] redundancy", with some being associated with former railway companies and others missing altogether.

This was “the cause for confusion of passengers and users navigating through the station", the company says.
In an application for permission to carry out the necessary work to replace the signs throughout the Grade II-listed building, the company says 65 will be removed completely in order to “declutter signage throughout the station to make the legibility of [it] as clear as possible for passengers and station users”.
The remaining 196 signs to be replaced have been designed to “improve…accessibility” - and include 63 signs within the car park.
Avanti says that the changes will be implemented “sympathetically, minimising impact on the historic fabric” of the building.

 

[Acathater]

Never seemed confusing to me!

 

[Flying Claret]

Ive always thought platforms 3&4C are the most confusing thing about Preston...

 

[sh24]

Certainly not the most initiative station to navigate as an infrequent user.

 

[Some guy]

Ive always thought platforms 3&4C are the most confusing thing about Preston...

They should just renumber it to platform 4 and 5. What’s currently platform 4 should be platform 6 and so on. Theres 9 platforms at Preston so should be numbered to have 9

 

[Pnerick81]

8 platforms . What you class as platform 9 or 7 isn’t used . Have only seen freight trains use that line to run through the station

 

[GRALISTAIR]

8 platforms . What you class as platform 9 or 7 isn’t used . Have only seen freight trains use that line to run through the station

Parcels platform is also used when open golf is on - so extremely rarely

 

[Pinus contorta]

When the loos were shut on P4 around 6 weeks ago, I did take a lot more notice of the signage to find where the temporary loos were situated. And i found the loos eventually. Some of the signage is not very clear.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Some of the signage is not very clear.

I gather that is the number 1 focus - to improve clarity of the signage.

 

[Pinus contorta]

I gather that is the number 1 focus - to improve clarity of the signage.

Could also help with the circulation of passengers around the pinch points. The bridge towards the exit onto Butler Street.

 

[tumbledown]

Am I right in thinking that there are actually two subways?

 

[Acathater]

Am I right in thinking that there are actually two subways?

yes - one for the lift, one for the ramp/stairs
but I don't think the lift one reaches all platforms, while the other doesn't have step free access to all

 

[tumbledown]

yes - one for the lift, one for the ramp/stairs
but I don't think the lift one reaches all platforms, while the other doesn't have step free access to all

Yes, it's a trap for the unwary - you innocently go down the ramp from 3 to find no lift at 2. Better signage might help.

 

[Elecman]

There are lifts to all platforms (PCD, 1&2, 3&4, 5&6 and 7 )

 

[Bletchleyite]

There are lifts to all platforms (PCD, 1&2, 3&4, 5&6 and 7 )

There are, but the lifts are in one subway and the stairs to another. Thus if you go down what looks like an accessible ramp from 3/4 you can only get back up to 3/4 again unless you can manage stairs.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

According to this, work is also being done on the signalling system around Preston very shortly while the Cumbria bridge over the M6 is being demolished and replaced. So not just the signage around Preston station getting attention but other stuff too.

£60 million railway bridge complete ahead of installation – cumbriacrack.com

cumbriacrack.com

Selective relevant quote below.

Over the Christmas period, Network Rail teams will be undertaking a major programme of upgrades to improve journeys for passengers on the West Coast Main Line.

It includes a £16m investment into Preston station’s signalling system and a rolling £61m programme of signalling works at Kingmoor, north of Carlisle.

 

[cool110]

8 platforms . What you class as platform 9 or 7 isn’t used . Have only seen freight trains use that line to run through the station

Still not passenger use, but steam locos often use it as well for taking on water before attaching to a charter

Thus if you go down what looks like an accessible ramp from 3/4 you can only get back up to 3/4 again unless you can manage stairs.

5/6 and 7/side exit also have ramps, just 1/2 that have steps

 

[Pnerick81]

Still not passenger use, but steam locos often use it as well for taking on water before attaching to a charter

5/6 and 7/side exit also have ramps, just 1/2 that have

I thought 5 and 6 was stairs up from the subway . Same as 1 and 2 . Only a ramp to 3 and 4 . There is a lift thought definitely to 1 and 2 and I guess 5 and 6 would have too.

 

[cool110]

I thought 5 and 6 was stairs up from the subway . Same as 1 and 2 . Only a ramp to 3 and 4 . There is a lift thought definitely to 1 and 2 and I guess 5 and 6 would have too.

It's straight ramps for 5/6 and 7, rather than the U shaped one of 3/4. Lifts are on 1/2, 4, 5/6, 7.

 

[tumbledown]

Traksy suggests that the current reversals at Buckshaw Parkway involve an emergency groundframe.
Does this mean a person in the snow cranking the points?
(But perhaps they are reversing further on)

 

[driver9000]

Traksy suggests that the current reversals at Buckshaw Parkway involve an emergency groundframe.
Does this mean a person in the snow cranking the points?
(But perhaps they are reversing further on)

It's not an emergency groundframe, it's known as "Buckshaw Parkway Junction" and it's a fully signalled move with powered points controlled from Preston signal box.

 

[tumbledown]

Aha thanks.

 

[Elecman]

Traksy suggests that the current reversals at Buckshaw Parkway involve an emergency groundframe.
Does this mean a person in the snow cranking the points?
(But perhaps they are reversing further on)

No it’s a signalled crossover just South/East of Buckshaw station

 

[tumbledown]

Interesting that trains disappear from the Platform 2 berth and appear in the Platform 1 berth on the map .

 

[driver9000]

Interesting that trains disappear from the Platform 2 berth and appear in the Platform 1 berth on the map .

I don't know why they would be doing that as trains are starting from platform 2 using the main aspect signal at the end of the platform.

 

[Chrius56000]

. . .The Sign Replacement Programme mentions "Old Signage from former companies" – are there still any early B.R. pre–corporate L.M. Region Maroon signs still lurking anywhere?

. . .If so, can anyone take a pic please?

 

[driver9000]

. . .The Sign Replacement Programme mentions "Old Signage from former companies" – are there still any early B.R. pre–corporate L.M. Region Maroon signs still lurking anywhere?

. . .If so, can anyone take a pic please?

There's a couple of 1980s Network Northwest signs on the station and similar era BR wayfinder signs dotted around nothing as old as the maroon era.

 

[King Lazy]

Interesting that trains disappear from the Platform 2 berth and appear in the Platform 1 berth on the map .

This is because the block on the up starts well before the station and ends well beyond the crossover. There is no platform end signal on the up. So after crossing over from the down the train is occupying the berth containing the up platform until clearing the next signal.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

I assume the signaling work went to plan as I have seen one or two trains going past my house?

 

[GRALISTAIR]

well a few photos of the signals at the south end of Preston station. All new but on my trip round the station and general area today, I could not find any evidence of new signs etc.