Bristol Temple Meads works

[Russel]

I've visited Bristol a few times since around August last year and I've noticed there seems to be a lot of work happening and a temporary roof has been erected under the trainshed.

Is this just a refurb and restoration or is there some kind of structural concerns?

 

[Snow1964]

There is fair bit of info here

Bristol Rail Regeneration - Network Rail

Building a brighter future for Bristol’s railway Ashley Down station opened Ashley Down station in Bristol opened to the public...

www.networkrail.co.uk

 

[The exile]

There is fair bit of info here

Bristol Rail Regeneration - Network Rail

Building a brighter future for Bristol’s railway Ashley Down station opened Ashley Down station in Bristol opened to the public...

www.networkrail.co.uk

Although that article is now over a year old. Nearly three years after the scaffolding appeared, all of the work appears to have been confined to the one-third of the roof at the northern / eastern end.

 

[Hellzapoppin]

The roof works will extend throughout the length of the roof but aiui fire regulations mean the scaffolding can't be put up all in one go.

 

[Annetts key]

They have definitely been working on the roof. When they are, it’s very noisy at night.
From time to time, more scaffolding is put up. I don’t know if any has been taken down though.

Other than the main roof, elsewhere there is visible progress of repainting and new station lighting being installed.

 

[Snow1964]

Work on new Eastern entrance has now commenced

New Eastern Entrance to Bristol Temple Meads breaks ground​

Construction on a new entrance to Bristol Temple Meads station has begun.
The new Eastern Entrance will make it easier for people to access the station from the east of the city and will open directly into the University of Bristol’s new Enterprise Campus.
The new entrance is funded by the £94.7m won from central government for the Temple Quarter programme through the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority last year. It is the first major piece of infrastructure delivery under the regeneration programme, which will see three new entrances delivered to the east, south and north of the station, alongside new homes, jobs, and public spaces.
The Temple Quarter regeneration programme, a partnership project between Bristol City Council, the Mayoral Combined Authority, Homes England, and Network Rail, will transform 130 hectares of land around Bristol Temple Meads station to deliver 10,000 new homes and thousands of new jobs, alongside new public spaces, low-carbon infrastructure and commercial uses.
Initial works to prepare for the delivery of the new entrance were carried out within the station in 2021, with £22 million of funding by the Mayoral Combined Authority, to keep the programme on track before the government grant was made. By taking this proactive partnership approach, the Temple Quarter partners were able to save time and money, as well as reducing disruption to rail passengers.
Over the coming months, work will include piling work to support the creation of the new entrance in the existing retaining wall, followed by breaking through the wall and excavation works to create a tunnel through to the subway inside the station.
In early 2024, construction on the new entry building will begin.
The construction of the new entrance is expected to take 13 months. Once complete, the building will be shrouded until September 2026 to allow the development of the new university campus and public space outside the entrance to be completed.

New Eastern Entrance to Bristol Temple Meads breaks ground

Construction on a new entrance to Bristol Temple Meads station has begun. The new Eastern Entrance will make it easier for people to access the station from the east of the city and will open directly into the University of Bristol’s new Enterprise Campus. The new entrance is funded by the...

www.bristoltemplequarter.com

 

[Annetts key]

The work on the main station roof has been ongoing for a long while…
This is a recent photo:

And this was from July 2021:

 

[snowball]

I don't follow events in Bristol very closely but I have an idea that I've recently seen it stated somewhere that the scaffolding will be there until 2026!

 

[The exile]

I don't follow events in Bristol very closely but I have an idea that I've recently seen it stated somewhere that the scaffolding will be there until 2026!

Can well believe it!

 

[Nodding Cat Ch]

It's so ludicrous this station has no electrification.

 

[Snow1964]

It's so ludicrous this station has no electrification.

From memory it's busiest in UK without any electrified services

 

[The exile]

It's so ludicrous this station has no electrification.

Although ironically not having it will have made these works a lot easier and less disruptive.

 

[Nodding Cat Ch]

Bristol must be the biggest place without it, assuming the wires get to sheffield that is.

 

[Snow1964]

Some new pictures on this article of the tunnelling to create the new Eastern Entrance near platform 15 to link entrance to the subway

Work progressing well on new entrance to Bristol Temple Meads

We have heard work is progressing well to build a new entrance into Bristol...

planetradio.co.uk

Background info on Eastern entrance

On track: inside Bristol Temple Mead’s new £23m entrance

Work is forging ahead on the new gateway to Bristol as the West of England’s Metro Mayor Dan Norris was joined by Mayor Marvin Rees to check out the new ‘Eastern Entrance’ to Bristol Temple Meads…

www.bristoltemplequarter.com

The whole area around the station is subject to redevelopment masterplan, and Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (architect) released new story yesterday

Transformation of Bristol Temple Quarter / Allford Hall Monaghan Morris | AHMM

AHMM has been appointed as part of the expert team, led by Prior + Partners, to help develop proposals for the transformation of Bristol Temple Quarter.

www.ahmm.co.uk

 

[popeter45]

It's so ludicrous this station has no electrification.

unlikly but hope if they have that scaffolding up for so long that at least use it for prep work for electrification

 

[Annetts key]

I’m not sure you can really call it tunnelling. The whole of that part of the station (platforms 1 to 15) are built up on brick and stone arches to raise everything significantly above the natural ground level. Even the floor of the subway is above the natural ground level. For more about the underground arches, have a look at these websites.

First visit this one and then this link takes you to an article about them that was published by the Bristol Post.

Visit the links for the photos.

Hi All

This was an explore that took place way back at the start of 2009. Myself, Fluffy and one of his more "normal" mates had the chance to look around the under ground parts of Bristol Temple Meads station that the public never get to see.

Me and Fluffy drove down to Bristol to meet up with his mate and the guy who was to show us round so at 11pm on a Saturday night, and after the last train had left Bristol the tour started.

The parts of Bristol Temple Meads that we were going to explore is under the "New" station built around 1870 by Francis Fox this was an extension to the original GWR train shed built around 1840 by IKB.

We take a walk through the secret tunnels hidden under Temple Meads railway station

They were once an important part the Bristol station, being used for storing wine and coal and even an air raid shelter - but only for the high and mighty

By Christopher Nicholls & Joseph Wilkes-som

20 Jan 2018

Most of the ten million people who use Bristol Temple Meads railway station each year have no idea there is a winding maze of tunnels beneath their feet.
The eerie network beneath the station is so extensive that forgotten sections are still being discovered today.

The first narrow pathways were built in the late 1830s when work first started on the station.

Over time more tunnels were created as new sections of the station were built, and throughout the 1800s and 1900s they were used for storage.

But now the stone tunnels, rumoured to be haunted, are rarely used and mostly empty, but for small signs that reveal they were once an important part of station life.

There are empty wine stores, a huge coal storage room – and even a Second World War air raid shelter which was reserved for Bristol’s high and mighty.

Narrow tram-tracks, which were once used for transporting objects, run through some of the network, now mostly silent, except for the rumble of trains above.

We were allowed in to the tunnels to take a look around and what we uncovered was a fascinating slice of the station's history.

Temple Meads station turns 178 years old this year and is one of the oldest railway stations in the country.

It opened on August 31, 1840, and the first train to leave the station was bound for Bath.

And a lot of the structural work for the new entrance was done months ago.

Maybe all this ‘news’ is to make it appear to the public as if they are continuing to make progress (I’m not saying that they are not).

 

[brad465]

Although ironically not having it will have made these works a lot easier and less disruptive.

Also ironically the works at Oxford will have been easier as a result of electrification being curtailed there.

unlikly but hope if they have that scaffolding up for so long that at least use it for prep work for electrification

IIRC the track and signal remodelling works that took place at Bristol a few ears back included a lot of electrification provisions.

 

[Annetts key]

The signalling (interlocking, axle counters, points, cabling and the electrical part of the signals) is electrification compatible. If they got the signal structures correct, they should be okay as well. But it cannot be confirmed until the OLE design has been finalised.

 

[anthony263]

Boses at GWR want the wires to Bristol TM. Dft need to get it done same with Oxford

 

[D6975]

When they cut back on the wiring works, not doing Filton bank and the chord to South Wales was a quite ludicrous decision, just over 5 miles that would have enabled so much electric running.

 

[QueensCurve]

Although ironically not having it will have made these works a lot easier and less disruptive.

The recent roof work at Carlisle had to accomodate the OHLE. One modification was that the link to the traction supply that formerly provided the shore supplies for sleepers at Platform 8 was removed during the works.

 

[John R]

When they cut back on the wiring works, not doing Filton bank and the chord to South Wales was a quite ludicrous decision, just over 5 miles that would have enabled so much electric running.

In hindsight, maybe not with the current service pattern. The only passenger services which use the line which would benefit are the Class 800 Cardiff to Taunton and beyond services, which can switch to electric at Patchway anyway. Unless you introduced bi-modes or split the route at Temple Meads the Cardiff to Portsmouth service isn't suitable.

The main use of electric up Filton bank was going to the 2tph fast London to Temple Meads services, and we know what happened to them.

 

[D6975]

In hindsight, maybe not with the current service pattern. The only passenger services which use the line which would benefit are the Class 800 Cardiff to Taunton and beyond services, which can switch to electric at Patchway anyway. Unless you introduced bi-modes or split the route at Temple Meads the Cardiff to Portsmouth service isn't suitable.

The main use of electric up Filton bank was going to the 2tph fast London to Temple Meads services, and we know what happened to them.

But the plan was to radically change the service pattern, the lack of electrification of Filton bank put the mockers on it.

 

[robert thomas]

In hindsight, maybe not with the current service pattern. The only passenger services which use the line which would benefit are the Class 800 Cardiff to Taunton and beyond services, which can switch to electric at Patchway anyway. Unless you introduced bi-modes or split the route at Temple Meads the Cardiff to Portsmouth service isn't suitable.

The main use of electric up Filton bank was going to the 2tph fast London to Temple Meads services, and we know what happened to them.

Also all the ecs movements to and from Stoke Gifford

 

[Snow1964]

It seems Network Rail is a partner in BTQ (Bristol Temple Quarter Regeneration), being led by WECA (West of England Combined Authority)

Plans to enter into a joint venture with a private partner and a number of local and national public agencies have been unveiled by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA).

A prior information notice has been issued by the authority notifying of plans to launch a procurement in 2024 that will bring a private partner into a joint delivery vehicle that will help deliver 10,000 new homes as part of a mixed-use regeneration initiative.

Bristol Temple Quarter Regeneration Project will see Bristol City Council, Homes England, Network Rail and WECA, known jointly as the BTQ Partners, establish a joint delivery vehicle in early 2024, which will then undertake a procurement for a development partner to join the organisation.

“The transformation of Bristol Temple Quarter is one of Europe’s largest city centre regeneration projects,” the notice said.

Prior + Partners has been appointed to support the public delivery team with the preparation of a masterplan for the programme.

A procurement for a private development partner is currently scheduled to be launched on 28 February 2024.

Multi-authority JV planned for Bristol regen

Plans to enter into a joint venture with a private partner and a number of local and national public agencies have been unveiled by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA).

www.partnershipsbulletin.com

WECA has a separate 10 year rail plan, (now 3 years old, as dated Dec 2020), but website does say it will be updated, so here is a link to current version

10-year rail delivery plan - West of England Combined Authority

We have plans to transform travel by rail over the next 10 years, including new rail routes, step-free access at stations and more frequent ‘turn up and go’ services.

www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk

 

[lachlan]

It seems Network Rail is a partner in BTQ (Bristol Temple Quarter Regeneration), being led by WECA (West of England Combined Authority)

Multi-authority JV planned for Bristol regen

Plans to enter into a joint venture with a private partner and a number of local and national public agencies have been unveiled by the West of England Combined Authority (WECA).

www.partnershipsbulletin.com

WECA has a separate 10 year rail plan, (now 3 years old, as dated Dec 2020), but website does say it will be updated, so here is a link to current version

10-year rail delivery plan - West of England Combined Authority

We have plans to transform travel by rail over the next 10 years, including new rail routes, step-free access at stations and more frequent ‘turn up and go’ services.

www.westofengland-ca.gov.uk

Thanks for the update. Construction has already started on the new eastern entrance. I can't find any more detailed info on the Temple Quarter website regarding plans for the current entrance/station approach but in my opinion there is a lot of room for improvement so will be interesting to see what they come up with

 

[Western Sunset]

Any updates on the Bath Road site?

 

[Snow1964]

Any updates on the Bath Road site?

Not sure which site you mean, one side of Bath Road is a site called Temple Island, the other Mead Road.

Temple Island has had initial public presentation, expected to apply for planning permission in Spring 2024

Home - Temple Island

Legal & General is progressing plans for the soon to be vibrant district at Temple Island. We’d like you to be involved.

templeislandbristol.co.uk

Mead Street

https://bristoltemplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/pdf/Mead-Street-Development-Brief_FINAL.pdf

 

[tpm]

There's also the former Kwik Fit site, which IIRC will feature a new MSCP and another entrance to the station via a bridge next to the tracks towards platform 4 ('Southern Gateway')

 

[Steve Harris]

Not sure which site you mean, one side of Bath Road is a site called Temple Island, the other Mead Road.

Possibly where Bristol Bath Road TMD used to be !??