Halifax Station Gateway Redevelopment Plans

[lejog]

Initial plans for the redevelopment of Halifax station were announced last month, but I don't think have been posted here. They go a lot further than the reopening of the third platform previously discussed.

£160k expenditure has been authorised to develop the business case, although there appear to be available budgets for at least the works to the station itself and west of the station under the WYCA transport plan. The land east of the station is owned by Nestle.

A £45M transformation plan has been unveiled for a West Yorkshire rail station. Ideas have been unveiled for the gateway to Halifax Station to be transformed. While it’s early days for the project, outline plans show the Halifax Station Gateway masterplan includes:

• Demolition of the current, modern station building and station approach bridge over Discovery Road from the main road;
• Development of a new, two storey building with access provided at platform level;
• Re-opening the original ‘1855 building’ for commercial uses. It would require the relocation of the current Eureka! nursery to new, purpose built facility;
• Re-opening of the disused third platform fronting the 1855 building (including associated track and signaling works);
• Re-instatement of Navigation Road beneath the station to form an east-west link under the railway;
• Creation of a ‘Station Gardens’ outside the 1855 building, linking the new station to Eureka!, enhanced car parking, a new bus-rail interchange and landscaping.

http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/40m-plans-transform-halifax-station-12073823

 

[swissrailpassion]

Very good news. The present station is an embarrassment.

 

[sheff1]

Don't get your hopes up just yet - these are described as "ideas".

The new building only went up in 2010 - were similar ideas considered prior to that work ?

 

[lejog]

Don't get your hopes up just yet - these are described as "ideas".

The new building only went up in 2010 - were similar ideas considered prior to that work ?

As I said the project has a substantial budget allocated to it under the 10-year £1bn+ West Yorkshire Transport fund, so there is good reason to believe that something will happen. Yes redevelopment of the area was probably mooted before 2010 in order to even feature in this budget. However as can be seen in this picture (taken from an earlier web page), the bridge to the island platform and the island platform itself could be unchanged, hence retaining most of the 2010 work.

 

[johntea]

One of the main problems with Halifax station is sadly it isn't really located in an ideal position as to a 'gateway' to the town centre, which is a decent walk made worse that the most direct route is a rather steep walk up!

Ideal if you're visiting Eureka though (I wish I was young again or had kids so I had an excuse to visit there these days!)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

One of the main problems with Halifax station is sadly it isn't really located in an ideal position as to a 'gateway' to the town centre, which is a decent walk made worse that the most direct route is a rather steep walk up!

Geographical matters such as this sees Hebden Bridge in a similar situation for serving the area of the town, ameliorated somewhat by the fact that there are some local and Keighley bus services that have an interchange facility there, with other services at the main road connection to the station approach road,which is most certainly not the case in Halifax, with the bus station being a long walk away from the railway station.

 

[lejog]

One of the main problems with Halifax station is sadly it isn't really located in an ideal position as to a 'gateway' to the town centre, which is a decent walk made worse that the most direct route is a rather steep walk up!

Ideal if you're visiting Eureka though (I wish I was young again or had kids so I had an excuse to visit there these days!)

I hope the intention is to open up a pedestrian route to the town centre the other side of the Piece Hall, the square building in the diagram above, which is both a far more direct route and is less steep - going up the hill at an angle. At the moment it can be quicker to reach the town centre by turning right outside the station along Square Rd rather than going straight on up the steep hill (Horton Street), although I'd agree the latter is more intuitive.
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Geographical matters such as this sees Hebden Bridge in a similar situation for serving the area of the town, ameliorated somewhat by the fact that there are some local and Keighley bus services that have an interchange facility there, with other services at the main road connection to the station approach road,which is most certainly not the case in Halifax, with the bus station being a long walk away from the railway station.

The intention is to have a second bus station outside the rail station, to be used by the local bus services that currently stop in the town centre. Most of services from the current bus station are longer distance and many anyway serve destinations also reached by rail.