NOTTINGHAM | The Hub (Nottingham Train Station) | Pro

[danz013]

From the BBC. I'm just wondering if we're going to see any significant changes in design.. I think we might do...

When I last spoke to the council one of the reasons for halting the design was the position of the multi story car park... Moving that could change the scheme dramatically.

The tenants of the warehouses at the bottom have moved out now too.

A multi-million pound plan to transform Nottingham railway station has moved a step closer.
The project, known as The Hub, has been awarded a £1.5m development grant from the East Midlands Development Agency and the Greater Nottingham Partnership.

The revamp, also being funded by the city council and Network Rail, would see the station also cater for trams, taxis and buses.

Project leaders will now draw up a design for the scheme.

The revamp would see the station's taxi rank turned into an indoor foyer with more shops.

A new travel centre would also be created along with a multi-storey car park, new toilets and passenger information points.

'Vital next step'

John Watson, chairman of the project's board, said: "We now need a 21st Century station serving a 21st Century city.

"This is a vital next step in the process. We'll be taking ambitious planning proposals and converting them into the details that can be used by construction companies to tender for the work."

A city council spokesman said the proposals were expected to be a catalyst for the development of sites surrounding the station and are part of wider plans to improve the south of the city.

More than five million passengers use the station each year.

[danz013]

another from the post...

Plans to revamp Nottingham's railway station have been boosted by a £1.5m grant.

The money will pay for designs of how the station and surrounding area will look - to be called The Hub.

This will help to attract investors - including the Department of Transport.

Work is due to start in 2010 and cost £60m.

John Watson, chairman of the project's board, said Nottingham needed a "21st Century station for a 21st Century city".

He said: "The Hub represents profound changes in our transport connections across the region, the UK and now across Europe - given the new Eurostar connection at London St Pancras.

"Over five million passengers use the station every year and passenger growth is to rise rapidly."

The project will restore the Edwardian frontage and develop an area for passengers to wait in among shops and cafes.

A travel centre, toilets and passenger information points are planned and a concourse will connect the station to the city's proposed tram lines to Beeston and Clifton.

A multi-storey car park will be built and bus, cycle, pedestrian and taxi access will be improved.

The grant has been awarded by the East Midlands Development Agency and the Greater Nottingham Partnership.

Commercial developments are expected around the station, including retail opportunities.

The proposals are part of wider plans to improve the south side of the city.

Coun Brian Parbutt, portfolio holder for transport, economic development and skills at the city council, said the revamp will make it easier for people to choose to use public transport.

"All our experience indicates that a transport revolution could transform the south side," he said.

"The area surrounding the station looks a bit run down but these proposals will improve the links to The Meadows, to the £200m canal quarter and the £400m new Broadmarsh Centre.

"The station really is The Hub for all these fantastic new developments, as well as for the expanding tram network, and its transformation will encourage further investment and uplift."

[Roggar]

2010 start?

That area of town is going to be a serious "no go" area for traffic around that time.

Imagine if Broadmarsh was in full flow, sov house, summer leys, picture works, gateway, eastside, the other lace market prop buildings all going on! Blimey. That area could look like Dubai with the amount of cranes going up there! lol

Do you reckon the council would let them all build there at the same time. I suppose there is economies of scale with toilets for the workers and the like. Actually, nuts to my current job, i am going to set up a sandwich van around there for the next decade!!!

[Stefan88]

Surely they wouldn't have Broadmarsh and the station U/C at the same time as the main traffic route for buses goes past the station. It'll all be affected by Broadmarsh as it is.
Would be nice though to see loads of cranes on the skyline. The city centre really would be a giant building site.

[danz013]

lolol... haa... Sandwich shop... good idea...

All at the same time? Ermm... I don't see why not.... If they make Queens Street one way towards London road and use the roads behind to divert back the other way...

Broadmarsh is won't be to big a problem... one of the first things they'll do is widen canal street so during the majority of the construction canal street won't have that many delays.

Carrington street will probably close for a short while too... (maybe.. but not necessarily) to redo the paving and the doors and all that on the old facade. Carrington street is already cabs and buses only anyway.

It might start a little earlier than '10, they'll need to get things ready for the tram interchange when/before the trams being construction.

[danz013]

I've just been reading through these reports...

http://open.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/co...railissues.doc

http://open.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/co...rtSept2007.doc

I've learn the fairs are likely to increase by 25% as a result of the new East Midlands Trains franchise.

The Notts Leeds line will be introduced every hour from December 2008 and this will be run by the Northern Trains franchise, not east midlands. It will also double the frequency of trains to alfreton, chesterfield and sheffield.

16. Design development on the Nottingham Station Hub scheme continues apace. Network Rail are committing development funding to the current areas of work to take the project through their GRIP Stage 4 processes and an application has been made to emda for further development funding to take the overall project towards tender stage. The draft business case is nearing completion and options for the multi storey car park and commercial developments are being refined with the help of Nottingham Regeneration Ltd. In view of the new franchise East Midlands Trains have accepted an invitation to be represented on the Station Hub Project Board and Steering Group and are keen to implement "quick wins" at the Station early in their franchise to help support wider Station improvement objectives. As a result City officers are scoping out how cycle parking improvements and changes to taxi circulation can be implemented. A marketing brochure to highlight the objectives of the stakeholders involved in the Nottingham Station Hub, and its synergy with the NET Phase Two project, is being prepared for an early Autumn launch.

The council are really impressing me with the way they're pressing ahead with this project. Their use of the words "the hub" make it seem as if they are really going to push out and sell this project to the city.

The second document suggest they're going to release all the info in October this year. I'm really looking forward to this... as i've said before this is one of my favourite projects and one I believe to be of the utmost importance.

[Stefan88]

The reason I don't get the train at the moment is because it's too expensive. It doesn't look like I'll be making use of the Nottingham to Leeds line afterall.

[oats]

So when the new franchises are launched Nottingham station will be controlled by East Midlands, and will serve the East Midlands franchise, Arriva Cross Country (to Birmingham and Cardiff) and Northern Rail (to Leeds 2008). Is that correct or any more?

[Pete JC83]

Yep, that's correct. Stagecoach will operate Nottingham stations and most other stations in the area. One odd side note though, the East Midlands branding will be all over the stations that Midland Mainline formely owned - this includes Sheffield station. A station deep in the heart of yorkshire will have East Midlands trains branding all over it!

[danz013]

I think thats great... definitely good for the region.

Think about attracting businesses to the region... we've got our own train network

[danz013]

Just made some changes to the front page...

http://www.go-em.gov.uk/transport/mm...ndix%209.1.pdf

B13,15 Nottingham Station Masterplan redevelopment with extra platform

The Masterplan is being pursued by Nottingham City Council and other parties as a
major redevelopment. The recommendations of this Study are concerned with the
future capacity and operational performance of the transport aspects. The Station has
a variety of access problems, affecting pedestrians, taxis, and drop-off/pick-up
facilities for cars. It also needs more platforms and platform availability. The Study
recommendation supports the scheme identified by Railtrack for an additional 2
platforms on the east side of the station, together with crossovers to enable trains to
switch tracks and make best use of the platform space available.

I imagine this has been part of the problem. The lady from the council said the rail industry were concerned about the location of the car park citing of the future platform. As the report said 2 platforms were recommended. Only one has been included in the design.

[Bingethink]

Originally Posted by danz013

Don't you guys think projects like this will play a major role in the expansion and development of the city (in terms of both looks and economy).

A "major" role? Actually, no, I don't. Whatever they do with the station, we are still stuck at the end of a slow railway line to London. There is really no realistic possibility of it becoming electrified, which would be a real boost.

But a significant development of the station would at least improve the entranceway to the city by rail. Mind you, the improvements to the Broadmarsh will help big time in that regard.

[oats]

From EP:

Stand on Carrington Street looking one way and you see beauty, turn around and the view is a beast.

Nottingham Station is one of the architectural gems of the city, but sadly it spews its passengers out onto one of Notts' ugliest roads.

First impressions count, and newcomers to Nottingham can only be disappointed at this gateway to the city.



A comparison can be drawn to Sheffield, which now has a spectacular water feature outside the station.

As with Nottingham, there is a slight incline into the city centre, but stroll up the well-lit walkways and you hardly notice you are walking uphill.

Here in Nottingham, passengers drag themselves up the stairs into a cold, stark passenger hall with a handful of seats and one shop, before negotiating Carrington Street.

Last week, the city council announced funding of £1.5m to draw up plans for a revamp of the station.

Realising the masterplan will cost millions, but doing nothing, really is not an option. How any overhaul would be funded is a whole new debate, but it is worth considering the bigger picture.

Rail travel has a big future in an environmentally-conscious country - but only if it can be a viable alternative to the car.

That means a new, comfortable station that is both a pleasant place to wait and much more practical for the elderly and those weighed down by shopping or luggage.

It also means a simple and effective ticketing system, which allows for cheap deals even when people just turn up for a train without pre-booking - in the same way they will jump in their car in the garage.

Last week, Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly promised ticketing would get easier in response to a Which? survey suggesting about only half of people who make enquiries on the phone or at a ticket office get the "best deal".

The new Broadmarsh shopping centre at one end of the station and the Eastside development at the other will only bring more people and more attention to the station.

Let's hope these visitors will have something to admire.

A strange article, because it makes no mention of Sovereign House or Meadows Gateway. I can't wait for the new designs to be released in November.

[danz013]

I'm just getting more and more excited about this masterplan. I think the designs they did last time were great so I think any improvement should be excellent.

[Furrydice]

Im confused....what are they doing now drawing up another master plan? What happened to the planning application that for the concourse and the car park? Has that all been dropped now?

Im not impressed if everything has to go back to the drawing boards because theres a new rail franchisee.

[danz013]

No Furry... this is whats happened. Well.. this is what I think has happened.

The designs I put up the other day were designs that were submitted last year. They were put on hold though. The lady from the council told me that Network Rail (or whoever control the railines) had a problem with the position of the Multi-storey car park (above the space provided for the additional platform). This has obviously caused major problems in the design.

Moving that car park is obviously going to be a big challange... if they can't put it on top of the platform then they're going to have less space to mess around with and. EMDA have given them money to get these designs sorted out asap, and they've all started Branding the station "The Hub".

Their not changing it because of the new franchise though.

I also spotted a report which shows network rail (or whoever controls the lines) recommended two extra platforms where only 1 was included in the designs.

Don't you guys think projects like this will play a major role in the expansion and development of the city (in terms of both looks and economy).

[Stefan88]

It will help get the ball rolling I reckon. If we have a much larger station and a better looking station with better rail links with major financial centres like Leeds then surely it will attract more investment from outside companies.

[pharmj]

Nottingham station is embarassing at the moment, on the platform level. First thing u see is a skanky car park, rubbish and wasteland! When we have students and people coming from all over the world, its not a good first impression..especially compared to the modern EMA experience...and they wonder why people like flying!

These plans will be a vast improvement on what we have at the moment. The only slight issue I have is that the plans right now look as though provision for cabs is pretty poor, espcially with the loss of that front atrium where they currently pick-up.

[danz013]

Well these will all probably change shortly but re the cabs... its much better than the tight space they had before.

Well... they'll still have the long queue up on station street, and they've made another one below the tram line.

image hosted on flickr

[Stefan88]

I really like the look of that plan. The station look so lively in the picture. Hopefully it will be like that in reality.