Bury Line Improvements

[northernrail]

Hi All,
On the Metrolink Website there is a page for the Bury Line Upgrades.

http://www.metrolink.co.uk/stationinfo/bury-stop-information.asp

Now on the list of stations Bowker Vale is having its Station Buildings demolished replaced with Bust Stop type shelters.

will this mot mean the station will have to be temporarily closed as the station buildings include the entrance to the stop?

At Heaton Park the roof is being removed from the stairs, Why?

 

[WatcherZero]

People feel safer in the open than in a dimly lit corridor. Theres some planned elevator closures but no complete platform closures planned.

Couple of shots of works at Crumpsall

 

[yorksrob]

Hmm. Not sure I'd count the demolition of the station buildings as an "improvement". Perhaps its a tram thing

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Were the buildings at Bowker Vale an example of a certain modern-period type of architecture?

 

[Greenback]

Hmm. Not sure I'd count the demolition of the station buildings as an "improvement". Perhaps its a tram thing

I agree, particuarly if they are replaced by a bus shelter.

 

[yorksrob]

I agree, particuarly if they are replaced by a bus shelter.

Indeed - even modern buildings tend to be better than none at all IMO.

 

[WatcherZero]

Bowker Vale

1991

Today

Future



The existing buildings are equipment rooms which is moved off the platforms increasing the parkland views on either side below the railway embankment.

 

[Greenback]

Sorry, I still think that buildings are better than small plastic shelters!

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Besses-o'-th'-Barn's are going too, and, as with Bowker Vale, are bring replaced with bus shelters.

Of the Bury line stations, which retain their buildings of old (i.e. from BR)? I would quite like to go around photographing them before all of their past life is lost...

 

[WatcherZero]

Only Bury has buildings (platform waiting room) you can enter and its planned to be demolished to increase platform space. All the others are just structures you pass through.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Only Bury has buildings (platform waiting room) you can enter and its planned to be demolished to increase platform space. All the others are just structures you pass through.

Cheers.

I was actually concerned about all the BR buildings, sealed or open.

For example, I still want shots of the old buildings at Bowker Vale, despite them being closed; similarly, I also want shots of old entrance buildings / booking offices where available.

 

[Greenback]

The replacement shelters appear to provide less protection from the elements and more basic seating than the structures being demolished.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

The replacement shelters appear to provide less protection from the elements and more basic seating than the structures being demolished.

Yes, but they are cheap. To ML, which matters more?

Might have a run out on the Monday after next, judging by the link northernrail provided, only Crumpsall should be some way to being finished, and hopefully the old buildings will still be about...

 

[Greenback]

No doubt they are cheaper to maintain, but what will probably happen is that the new structures will need replacing after a few years, either due to poor materials or because of complaints from passnegers that better facilites are required. When you add in the cost of demolishing the old buidlings and removing the waste, I wonder how cost effective it really is?

 

[northwichcat]

Sorry, I still think that buildings are better than small plastic shelters!

But the buildings don't fit in with the much cheaper plastic shelters used on the Eccles and Chorlton lines and on some stations on the Altrincham line.

 

[Greenback]

But the buildings don't fit in with the much cheaper plastic shelters used on the Eccles and Chorlton lines and on some stations on the Altrincham line.

Do you mean that it's essentially a branding exercise?

 

[northwichcat]

Do you mean that it's essentially a branding exercise?

Well they don't exactly match at present:

Ex-BR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sale_Metrolink_station.jpg
Purpose built stop: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Media_city_metrolink_station.jpg

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Well they don't exactly match at present:

Ex-BR: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sale_Metrolink_station.jpg
Purpose built stop: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Media_city_metrolink_station.jpg

So it is a branding exercise!

I would rather use a station that had good quality buildings and had nice seats and shelters that was a bit out of place than use one which had bus shelters and cheap plastic seats but blended in!

 

[Greenback]

I would rather use a station that had good quality buildings and had nice seats and shelters that was a bit out of place than use one which had bus shelters and cheap plastic seats but blended in!

So would I! it looks like another triumph for style over substance!

 

[snail]

Hmm. Not sure I'd count the demolition of the station buildings as an "improvement". Perhaps its a tram thing

It's an unmanned station thing. Too many dark corners make it feel unsafe at night. Open aspect, good lighting and CCTV = people prepared to use the system without feeling threatened.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

It's an unmanned station thing. Too many dark corners make it feel unsafe at night. Open aspect, good lighting and CCTV = people prepared to use the system without feeling threatened.

I cannot think of a tram system that has staffed stations other than as part of interchanges or because of safety reasons (underground stations must be staffed).

I would rather see all stations staffed than having to make everything see-though and plastic, but staffing really isn't a light rail thing.

 

[Greenback]

I wonder who decides that dark corners make people feel uneasy and what the definition is for a dark corner. Is it based on the same facts that led to high rise tower blocks in the 1960's?

Quite why lighting can't be improved to eliminate 'dark corners' without having such an open aspect that everyone gets blown away by the wind and drenched by the rain is beyond me.

Having tried to take shelter on Gowerton station recently I can vouch that modern shelters are no good at all in a storm. Plus, the wretched thing actually flooded in five minutes due to it being at the bottom of a slope, down which torrents of rainwater were soon flowing!

 

[northwichcat]

replaced by a bus shelter.

Even some bus interchanges get nice buildings opposed to a row of glass bus shelters, such as here: http://www.bestbuildings.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/Nelson2.JPG

For Metrolink: Altrincham~, Stretford#, Cornbrook#, Deansgate-Castlefield#, St Peters Square#, Piccadilly Gardens#, Shudehill#, Piccadilly Station and Victoria Station could all be classed as interchanges.

~ = Proper shelter but no indoor waiting area (for Metrolink platforms)
# = bus type shelters only (for Metrolink platforms)

 

[futureA]

I think i'm going against the flow here but I say get rid.
There is absolutely no need for the collection of scruffy and dilapidated old structures that the Bury line has at present.

Most of the stops contain buildings serve absolutely no purpose other than to make the stop feel oppressive and ugly.
Its not as if this stuff has any architectural value either, its just 1950's cheap and cheerful (and it shows) that has somehow made in into the 21st century.
I find it hard to imagine why anyone would want to keep these useless, damp, derelict and downright ugly anachronisms, especially when so much progress has been made improving stops else ware on the network.

 

[Greenback]

I think i'm going against the flow here but I say get rid.
There is absolutely no need for the collection of scruffy and dilapidated old structures that the Bury line has at present.

Most of the stops contain buildings serve absolutely no purpose other than to make the stop feel oppressive and ugly.
Its not as if this stuff has any architectural value either, its just 1950's cheap and cheerful (and it shows) that has somehow made in into the 21st century.
I find it hard to imagine why anyone would want to keep these useless, damp, derelict and downright ugly anachronisms, especially when so much progress has been made improving stops else ware on the network.

I don;t care about appearance, I care about staying dry and warm, something that, in my experience, is far easier in a traditional covered platform than in modern shelters! Ugly and dry is fine, pretty and soaking wet is useless!

 

[northernrail]

Only Bury has buildings (platform waiting room) you can enter and its planned to be demolished to increase platform space. All the others are just structures you pass through.

According to Metrolink the Bury waiting room is being demolished because of how underused it is and it attracts antisocial behavior

 

[WatcherZero]

Not just a branding excersise to demolish buildings, you pointed out Sale as an example of old buildings, it was renovated last year:

Frankly though the buildings on the Bury line are in a far worse state than the Altrincham line ones.

 

[yorksrob]

It's an unmanned station thing. Too many dark corners make it feel unsafe at night. Open aspect, good lighting and CCTV = people prepared to use the system without feeling threatened.

I know which ones I'd rather be standing under in a rainstorm.

(And this is Manchester afterall so it is quite an important consideration IMO )

 

[snail]

Not just a branding excersise to demolish buildings, you pointed out Sale as an example of old buildings, it was renovated last year

But if you look closely there is a 'To Let' notice on the (boarded up) booking office. The old stairwells have been retained, which is a good thing, but access is now directly from the street through the 'golden arch' not via the building.

 

[northwichcat]

Regarding buildings on Metrolink platforms - a lot of these would have been used by BR but are of no use to Metrolink. However, there are three options regarding those buildings:

1. Leave them there in current state. Attempt to rent out as office space but know it's unlikely anyone will take up.
2. Refurbish them as high standard offices. Should have a real chance of renting out considering the office is right next to a tram stop with a frequent service and there's no intercity or freight going past, which can be a disadvantage to renting office space in a standard station.
3. Knock them down and leave the space empty. There isn't any option for rent collection and knocking the buildings isn't free so this could prove more costly in the long term.