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| CPRE CITY OF GLOUCESTER DISTRICT
| Why the Proposed Elmbridge Parkway Station is Unsustainable |
Despite little apparent local support for the proposal, Gloucestershire County Council has voted to support the scheme. This is surprising as the project would appear to be totally unsustainable and inconvenient to the majority of existing passengers and would only be welcome by a limited number of additional ones.
Elmbridge is not close to any major residential area of high population which means very few people can reasonably walk or cycle to the station. Instead they will have to travel by car or bus. At a meeting last year, it was stated that 390 new passengers would take advantage of the new station. It is likely that 90% of these travellers would drive to the station making a total of 780 additional car journeys, hardly sustainable. Indeed the location is in the green belt and a greenfield site; it would detract from the view of the Cotswold escarpment, although the gigantic car park would have the most magnificent view of Churchdown Hill. The location may also create a precedent for further inroads into the green belt and surrounding countryside there.
A frequent bus service is proposed which will not be dedicated to serve the station solely, but will also provide an augmented service to people living close to the new routes. This is an excellent idea as it benefits both rail travellers and also bus passengers with an increased frequency of service. Where it falls down is that after the proposed special bus priority facilities in the Barnwood area over other traffic finish, the bus is then caught in the inner city congestion of Gloucester making journeys to and from the centre unacceptably long.
There is also the likelihood of train services ceasing to stop at Cheltenham. It is understood that the train operating companies have given assurances that this will not happen but history has demonstrated that train operators can withdraw services whenever they wish for example the cessation in 2005 of 20 out of 22 services that used to call at Gloucester, the very reason why we are discussing the proposed Parkway station today.
There has been much interest in locating the parkway station at the triangle but studies have concluded that this is too expensive. That may have been the case earlier but with climate change, anything that can be done to reduce CO2 emissions should be considered afresh, the triangle solution should therefore be revisited. It has also been argued that it is operationally not acceptable to work on the triangle in close proximity to moving trains, however, with modern technology and careful planning, the risks involved and disruption to trains, could be kept to a minimum.
There is also the possibility of trains or some trains calling again at Gloucester. Train operating companies have already increased journey times to ensure that trains run closer to time and this appears to be working. By calling at Gloucester and adding the extra 7 minutes this is supposed to take, is hardly much of a penalty on a 3 hour journey. Reintroduce some Virgin services to Gloucester and there is no need for a Parkway station.
Just announced is a proposal for a new Sustrans Connect2 cycle/footbridge between the centre of city and the hospital which may also be able to give access to the stations platforms, including the notorious platform 4 at Gloucester station. This new link will add to the case for more trains calling at Gloucester station as access to platform 4 and also the hospital will become much easier and direct.
The present station is adjacent to the bus station and city centre, moving the station to Elmbridge will not help Gloucester re-generation.
Further thought should be given to the triangle location or maybe even at Quedgeley which has a rapidly rising population. A station at Quedgeley would present no more engineering problems to those at Elmbridge and is further from Cheltenham making it less likely that trains would stop calling there. But better still look again at reintroducing more trains calling at Gloucester. This would be sustainable, cost very little and there would be no need for a Parkway Station.
March 2007