Is Biggleswade train station on track for step free access?

The criticism comes following a meeting on March 9 at Biggleswade Town Council (BTC) offices, also including CBC, Network Rail, Govia Thameslink Railway, Richard Fuller MP and BRAN.

The meeting was to discuss new lifts at the station, and plans to move the bus station hub from Market Square to a site adjoining the train station were also mooted. (This new interchange is described in CBC’s Biggleswade Town Centre Adopted Strategy and Masterplan, 2011.)

Writing for his blog, Julian Vaughan, of BRAN, claimed there had been little, if any, communication between Network Rail and CBC on the station upgrade. He said: “Unfortunately, of the five proposals for lift/ramp configuration put forward by Network Rail designers at the meeting, only one of these took into account the bus interchange.

“Network Rail advised us that they had only been made aware of the Interchange plans in the last two or three months. As plans for an Interchange have been circulating since 2011 something has gone very badly wrong here!”

He added: “It’s clear two options [for lifts] have been ruled out – those being bridges and lifts at the extreme North or South ends of the platforms. Another option to just add on lifts to the current footbridge presents a number of problems due to the lack of space.

“The option that seems the most favoured by the Network Rail design team seems to be lifts to both island platforms a little to the south of the current buildings on the southbound platform.

“However, all of these options involve the use of ramps, with either a 1 in 17 or 1 in 20 gradient which is far from ideal. Further, there is no access to the lifts to or from the Eastern side of the station.”

A CBC spokesman said: “Biggleswade Station is owned and operated by Network Rail and providing step free access is solely their responsibility. However we have been supporting Network Rail and the current rail franchisee Govia in the development of their funding application.”

Ed Akers, of Network Rail, said: “We know how important our work to improve accessibility is for passengers and the community. We are working to deliver a scheme, which will include the installation of lifts at the station, as quickly as possible.

“Development work has been ongoing following the Department for Transport’s April 2019 announcement that the project at Biggleswade would be funded as part of the Government’s Access for All Programme. It remains on track to be delivered by 2024 as planned.”