Ilkeston Station

[18B]

hi,

 

as I'm sure a few of us have, I've been following the developments for the potential station at Ilkeston quite closely, and I recently sent the MP for the constituancy an e-mail requesting further info on the station, and speciafically why it was projected to cost a staggering £6 million! well her secretary bascially said that as I wasn't in her consituancy, she wouldn't answer me. Would any like to respond to her with their address (you'd have to live in the consituancy of Jessica Lee - Erewash) in order to receive a reply regarding the potential station at Ilkeston and why it is projected to cost somuch?

 

drop me a PM if you;pre interested?

 

Regards,

[Fat Controller]

Having followed the progress and costings of several new stations in the UK and elsewhere, this amount doesn't seem that exceptional, I'm afraid. A large amount of the costs will be in the form of compensation payments to the various TOCs for service disruption caused by the possessions necessary to building/restoring the platforms, and any other structures in immediate proximity to the line. The Erewash Valley line is a reasonably busy one; the works involved in building a single track station on the Inverness line outside Aberdeen, which in comparison is a backwater, came to well over a million pounds a few years ago. In comparison, a single-platform terminus, complete with surfaced and illuminated parking, on the outskirts of Le Havre came to less than £200,000.

[18B]

Evening,

 

have you any further details of the construction of the cheaper stations, although £6million may seem the going rate, it's still an awful lot of money, and asking the question why and what for, would seem a fair question.

[Fat Controller]

Evening,

 

have you any further details of the construction of the cheaper stations, although £6million may seem the going rate, it's still an awful lot of money, and asking the question why and what for, would seem a fair question.

The one I mentioned outside Aberdeen was a single platform, without any footbridge (which would be necessary at Ilkeston, to span the 4 tracks shown in my edition of Quail)- initially, the platform was only intended to hold two coaches, but I believe it was extended during construction. There was a minimalist form of shelter on the platform. The French example I quoted was a single-track terminus, also with minimal shelter for passengers, with a large parking area, which was both surfaced and lit.

Building and civil engineering costs in the UK do seem more than a little high; the village primary school I attended from 1959 to 1966 (and which was scheduled for closure not long after I left) was recently planned to be replaced by a new building. The building, designed to house about two hundred pupils (there were about 60 in my day), is estimated to cost £12 million; this in a relatively impoverished area of South-West Wales. I hesitate to imagine what such a building might cost in S E England.

[Edwin_m]

One of the things that pushes the costs up is accessibility. A footbridge with ramps will cost somewhere over £1m on the railway - the stepped versions are much cheaper but unlike in former days a new station has to provide access for everybody including those in wheelchairs. Straight track is also preferred to minimise stepping distances. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, it's probably a natural consequence of people living longer and wishing to be independent, but it helps explain why single-platform stations are so much cheaper.

 

Looking at Ilkeston on Bing maps, there is a road bridge nearby but no footway on the south side and the footway on the north side crosses by a separate footbridge instead of using the main span, thus ramps or even steps down to a platform are difficult whichever side of the road it is put. The new bypass bridge just to the north spans clear over all four tracks, which probably means the parapet can't be cut through to make an access off it. The remains of the station on the down side appear to be in industrial use which would have to be cleared or the down platform put elsewhere, and the river Erewash passes under the railway just to the south of the road bridge. All these factors will increase the cost of a station on this site.