Why do station footbridges often have frosted glass.

[Sad Sprinter]

I made a thread on this a few years ago: https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/frosted-glass-on-station-footbridges.254571/

Seemed that stopping people from running was the answer.

 

[TheTallOne]

I thought it might be to stop people standing there taking photos getting in the way.

Seems there might be multiple reasons.

 

[NSE]

I think it’s widely assumed and accepted that stopping running plays a big part in the thinking. But things like glare for drivers in specific locations or maybe selling for advertising space could also play parts.

 

[Elecman]

The new footbridge at Abergavenny has large clear glass windows with a good view. They seem to keep them clean too.

No OLE below to worry about

 

[Christian Schm]

Even worse are station footbridges with solid side walls and no roofs. Dark corners, no natural surveillance, pooling water, what’s not to dislike?

Pontypridd has one like this, do many years. And what’s worse, they still get build - at the same time as Abergavenny got a nice covered one with glass sides, Cwmbran got the same as Pontypridd.

And to make things even worse, if look at the pictures that TfW used for the 5 new stations consultation, they appear to go for the poor Cwmbran design, not the nice Abergavenny one…