Proposed Stations to open in 2020

(GWR) Worcestershire Parkway - Early 2020

Worcestershire Parkway was scheduled to originally open on 15th December along with Warrington West (Northern) & Robroyston (Scotrail). On December 4th GWR confirmed that the station opening was delayed and would now open in the New Year. No exact date has been given for the opening, but it is quite possible we could see it open sometime during January & February. Keep an eye on my social media accounts as I will announce any news of the opening there. 

Worcestershire County Council have stated on their website that construction is now complete and the Entry into service process is under and is nearing completion. This is the process where all equipment and facilities get tested and commissioned. As such this is a very complex, involving many different stakeholders. 

The main priorities of Worcestershire Parkway are:

• To address the county’s exclusion from the crosscountry route (South West – North East).
• To support economic growth.
• To improve London services with increased frequency and shorter journey times.
• To improve the minimal car parking facilities, as current stations have limited room for expansion.

Further details and updates please visit http://www.worcestershire.gov.uk/news/article/1688/worcestershire_parkway_rail_station

(Northern) Horden Peterlee – Spring 2020

Consultation for the opening of the station started in 2016 by Durham County Council. During the consultation period 98% of the respondents welcomed the building of the new station. Since then the council have been busy taking the necessary actions to make the station become a reality. 

Planning permission was submitted on the 1st November 2018 and was duly approved on 7th January 2019. On the 23rd May 2019 a ground-breaking ceremony took place followed soon after by the start of stage one of the construction process on 28th May 2018. Stage one consisted of the creation of the car park and the adjacent bus stop. 

The second stage of the construction work, which will include the construction of the of the station itself and the required track realignment works. This work will be undertaken by Story Contracting. 

Facilities at the station are to include:

• Shelters, Benches, Lighting columns, Help Points & CCTV (There is to be no Ticket Office or station buildings at Horden Peterlee.)
• An uncovered steel footbridge with stairs and ramps.
• A car park with space for up to 136 cars with associated taxi drop off/up and bus routes to the station.
• New access roads and footways from nearby roads.
• The entire station site will be Disability Discrimination act compliant.

Further details and updates please visit http://www.durham.gov.uk/horden

(Transport for Wales) Bow Street – 2020

Back in 2015 the welsh government commissioned a study into the reopening of Bow Street station. Originally closed in 1965 as part of the Beeching cuts. Following on from the study carried out in December 2016 the Welsh Government made an application to the UK Government for £4 million towards the reopening of the station, slightly further south from the location of the original station. The original location is now occupied by a builder’s merchants. The new station plans included facilities for a 110 capacity car park, bicycle storage and a bus & coach interchange.

In July 2017 it was announced the station had secured the relevant funding from the Department for Transport, work should have been started in early November 2018 with work to of been completed by March 2020. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case. In August 2019 it was announced that the Transport for Wales were having to put another plan together for the car parking facilities to the local Ceredigion County Council after Nature Wales raised concerns about potential flooding risks.

Planning permission was granted for the new station in September 2019. In November 2019 work started to prepare the platform base on the east side of the line. No new opening date has been given yet but it looks like it is planned to open in 2020. Evidence to back this can be seen in the December 2019 timetable change where additional running time has been added between Machynlleth and Aberystwyth to allow for stops at Bow Street for when it opens.

(GWR) Reading Green Park – 2020

Plans were originally announced in 2007 and approved by the Office of Rail regulation in March 2009. It was originally planned that construction of the station would be completed by the end of 2010. This was not to be the case. On 27th October 2011 it was announced by the owner s of the business park, Prupim, that plans for the station had been suspended after a local housing development had been scaled down.

On 29 April 2015 the council's planning committee renewed planning permission for the station.  It is planned to open in 2018, which should have coincided with electrification of the Reading – Basingstoke Line and introduction of new or refurbished trains. However, the electrification of the line is now not due to be started until after 2019.

In July 2016 the Berkshire Local Transport Body (BLTB) awarded an additional £3m to the initial £6.4m contract for Green Park Station after a review concluded "a significant increase in the forecast passenger demand for the station in comparison to the calculations undertaken in 2013". The additional funding would be for additional shelters and improved ticketing facilities.

The Department for Transport confirmed in July 2017 that Reading Green Park station would receive £2.3m towards a total project cost of £16.5m as part of a £16m government investment into 5 new stations. The station was originally due for opening in May 2020 and then brought forward to Summer 2019; but is now set to open by the end of 2020. 

There is a fasinating long winded story about Reading Green Park station. I Recommend you visit the following link and checkout the PDF files listed: https://www.reading.gov.uk/article/11822/Reading-Green-Park-Station

(GWR) Portway Parkway – 2020

In 2009 it was proposed that a railway station should be built. The plan was supported by Friends of Suburban Bristol Railways and the Bristol branch of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers. The plan was approved in October 2012. Ground surveys began in 2017, with completion originally planned for 2019; however, planning permission was not granted until March 2019.

Now planning permission has been granted work can begin, but to my knowledge construction work is yet to commence.  When work does commence the platform will be able to fit five car trains. In addition to this Network Rail plans to install a ticket machine at the station, something many of the stations on the Severn Beach Line don’t have. 

Plans for the station also include seven disabled parking spaces adjoint to the pedestrian access to the station in the existing car park. Also included in the plans are cycle parking for 40 bicycles in two separate covered shelters. 

The scheme to open Portway Parkway station is part of a long term rail strategy for the city region through the MetroWest programme. 

I am going to make some enquires in the new year about Portway Parkway station and will include any further updates about Portway Parkway in a blog I am planning about the MetroWest scheme. 

(ScotRail) Kintore – May 2020

The possibility of reopening Kintore station was raised in 2009 by Nestrans. It was then discussed in Scottish Parliament in October later that year. Plans to reopen the station were announced in December 2012 and in February 2014 Aberdeenshire West MSP, Dennis Robertson, raised the issue in parliament for a second time. This follows a wider £170 million project to upgrade the Aberdeen to Inverness Line. 

The new station will have step-free access between platforms via a footbridge with lifts. In addition to the footbridge and lifts, station facilities will include spaces for electric vehicles and disabled parking, bike storage facilities and connections to the local bus network. 

The construction is currently running to plan and is scheduled to reopen on time in May 2020. Once opened all Aberdeen to Inverness trains will call at the station. 

Other Future Stations of interest:

Dalcross (2020): After more than a decade on the drawing board, proposals put forward by transport partnership Hitrans for a £5 million station won planning permission in 2017 amid hopes it would finally be operational the following year.

Construction work did not start on the project in 2017. The scheme was taken over by Transport Scotland and it has now confirmed that a new design is currently being completed by Network Rail. <More Info>

Barking Riverside (2021): The Barking Riverside extension will add 4.5km to the London Overground Gospel Oak to Barking line, and take it from Barking to a new station at Barking Riverside. The main works contractor is now on site to begin construction. Train services will start in December 2021.

The Barking Riverside extension will be capable of operating four trains per hour from Barking station along the existing Tilbury line used by c2c between Fenchurch Street and Grays. After passing under the Renwick Road bridge the extension would then head south to a new station in the heart of the Barking Riverside development. <More Info>

Henbury (2021): Improved services on the Severn Beach Line are called for as part of the Greater Bristol Metro scheme, a rail transport plan which aims to enhance transport capacity in the Bristol area. 

It has been suggested that Henbury railway station be reopened as part of the scheme, with the possibility of services running from Bristol Temple Meads to Bristol Parkway via Clifton Down and Henbury.

In January 2018, it was revealed that the new station would be on a new site rather than the former site (referred to as Henbury West) due to high costs. 

The new station could open in May 2021. <More Info>

Crossrail - Paddington to Abbey Wood (2021): Canary Wharf (completely new station)

Woolwich (completely new station)

Bond Street (new national rail station)

Tottenham Court Road (new national rail station)

Custom House (new national rail station)

<More Info>

Proposed station openings after 2021:

Beam Park (Proposed opening 2022)

Brent Cross West (Proposed opening 2022)

Soham (Proposed opening 2022)

Loudoun Square (Proposed opening 2023)

Crwys Road (Proposed opening 2023)

The Flourish (Proposed opening 2023)

Treforest Estate (Proposed opening 2025)

Gabalfa (Proposed opening 2028)

Proposed station openings awaiting set date:

East Linton (Scotland)

Reston (Scotland)

Portishead (Bristol)

New Bermondsey (London)

Beaulieu Park (Essex)

Marsh Barton (Devon)

Edginswell (Devon)

Winchburgh (Scotland)

Elland (W. Yorkshire)

East Leeds Parkway (W. Yorkshire)

White Rose (W. Yorkshire)

Leeds-Bradford Airport Parkway (W. Yorkshire)

Ashington (Northumberland)