Bus access to Toton Interchange (HS2)

[IKBrunel]

Current plans for the Toton station show a single access road from a new junction with the A52 just east of where it crosses the tracks. Very few buses go along the A52 here, maybe only the Nottm-Derby red arrow?
(4 classic line platforms & 2 Tram platforms are already in the plans)

Clearly local roads in Long Eaton, Toton and Stapleford wouldn't be appropriate for large volumes of extra traffic.

But to encourage use of public transport to access the station, would people agree there is a strong argument for barriered bus access roads or even busways into the station site from Long Eaton, Toton and Stapleford? This would allow more local buses to call at the Toton interchange.
Direction of these roads would be:
Stapleford: large underbridge already exists under the A52 serving scrapyards & sewage works from Stapleford.
Long Eaton: would go through old gasworks site (on opp side of tracks to Asda) to join A6005
Toton: up the hill to nearby housing estates.

Provision for use by cyclists would be included.

 

[Jordeh]

I find it quite difficult to even contemplate bus services in the next few years in the area given the NET Tram, in 2030+ goodness knows what the situation will be like.

Busways do sound a fairly expensive and unnecessarily complicated solution to the problem. Changing existing bus services or creating new services to reach the station from the likes of Sawley, Long Eaton, Chilwell, Stapleford etc using the planned roundabout on the A52 should be simple and quick enough I imagine.

 

[Deerfold]

Current plans for the Toton station show a single access road from a new junction with the A52 just east of where it crosses the tracks. Very few buses go along the A52 here, maybe only the Nottm-Derby red arrow?

I'm not entirely surprised a station that hasn't been built yet isn't well served by buses, but with the Red Arrow and Citylink passing there there's 9 buses an hour passing during the day, half hourly overnight at weekends - I wouldn't call that very few buses.

 

[IKBrunel]

I'm not entirely surprised a station that hasn't been built yet isn't well served by buses,

my post made it clear we're talking about a PROPOSED station,

Current plans for the Toton station

so why the sniffyness???

but with the Red Arrow and Citylink passing there there's 9 buses an hour passing during the day, half hourly overnight at weekends - I wouldn't call that very few buses.

But these are limited stop express services. Note that the classic line platforms at Toton, will almost certainly be used by some sort of Nottingham-Derby rail service which will be quicker & have full ticket integration. I am interested here in bus connection to places not served by rail or tram.

I find it quite difficult to even contemplate bus services in the next few years in the area given the NET Tram, in 2030+ goodness knows what the situation will be like.

Sure, but I think it's important that Toton HS2 is well designed as a transport hub for the East Midlands but also provides a good facility for the local Erewash valley area. Might seem a long way off, but it's under consultation now. If there is a need for better bus connections to the Toton station, it needs flagging up now. If these sort of details dont go in the design before compulsory purchase orders go out they wont happen.

Busways do sound a fairly expensive and unnecessarily complicated solution to the problem. Changing existing bus services or creating new services to reach the station from the likes of Sawley, Long Eaton, Chilwell, Stapleford etc using the planned roundabout on the A52 should be simple and quick enough I imagine.

What about services along the A6005 corridor - Indigo & Skylink? Might see a bit of abstraction from Indigo to Tram but there will still be some sort of indigo service. If the only access to HS2 station was via the A52 that would add a lot of dead miles & not be attractive to Trent Barton.

A busway is more or less a road with guides for the wheels (not that complex really), but presumably busways might exclude certain vehicles with wrong axle lengths, so a simple single track road with passing places might be a better solution. We're not talking about long distances here, Toton station is right in the middle between Long Eaton, Stapleford & Toton. The routes I've proposed don't require any new civils structures like Bridges, Maybe a bit of grading for the Toton housing link road.

 

[edwin_m]

The benefit of having a through road for buses is that existing routes can be re-designed so the bus passes by the station. Having only one access road would mean the bus has to go in and come out the same way, which will be unpopular with both passengers and operators as the number wanting to go to the station will be a small fraction of the total number on the bus.

Of course if we did buses properly the station would be a proper interchange fed by local bus services allowing people either to get the train (high speed or city centre shuttle) or the tram.

 

[turkish1977]

The OP's ideas are spot on. Having bus only -with barriers - not guided bus, easy links to all the local residential areas will only improve local opinion of the plan.

Living locally to where the proposed station is, which I am absolutely in favour of. The weakest part of the plan is how to link the station into the local road network, the plan for a new roundabout on the A52 is a recipe for disaster and will lead to even more gridlock off the M1 J25, they need to find a way for eastbound traffic to exit out to the B6003 Toton Lane and onto the improved Bardill's roundabout and westbound traffic needs a slip onto the A52 towards the M1 with traffic coming from the M1 using a single lane slip tunnelled under the A52.

I use the A52 daily out to the M1 at all times of day and unless a better plan than a roundabout is come up with they will be soon digging it up again to cope with the extra traffic and local gridlock.

 

[Deerfold]

my post made it clear we're talking about a PROPOSED station, so why the sniffyness???

But these are limited stop express services. Note that the classic line platforms at Toton, will almost certainly be used by some sort of Nottingham-Derby rail service which will be quicker & have full ticket integration. I am interested here in bus connection to places not served by rail or tram.

I wasn't trying to be sniffy, but again you seem surprised by the lack of buses stopping locally. If the station is built presumably the limited stop services could add a stop and extra services could be added.

I agree it'd be good to have some plans for buses in advance, though the privatised bus market makes that trickier than in many countries.

 

[Robertj21a]

Can't see any need at all for a guided busway. Not even sure that the station, if ever built, will generate that much traffic.

Proper travel integration is poorly handled in the UK and our competitive bus market does nothing to help matters. We can only watch Germany, Switzerland etc with great envy.

Robert

 

[harry42]

Like the old trent barton toton connect now the 110 notts bus one? This connects all of Toton, Attenborough and Beeston bus station to Stapleford and the proposed site for the interchange. This could become a lot more frequent?