Chorley People 20th August 2010

WORK TO START ON NEW STATION

WORK is set to start within the next few weeks on a long-awaited multi-million pound railway station for Chorley’s newest village.

Contractors are due on site in September and the new station to serve Buckshaw Village is expected to be up and running by autumn 2011 after planning permission was granted by Chorley Council this week.

Councillor Peter Goldsworthy, Chorley Council leader, said: “We are delighted that work will start on the new station so soon, the residents of Buckshaw Village have been waiting a long time.

“It will be completed next year and with its park and ride facility will prove to be a huge asset for the Village, and for the people of Chorley who choose to use it, helping to create a truly sustainable community.”

The station is a joint venture between Chorley Council, Lancashire County Council, Network Rail and rail operators Northern.

It had always been an important part of the vision for Buckshaw Village which has been built on the site of the 395-acre former Royal Ordnance factory at Euxton.

County Councillor Tim Ashton, Lancashire County Council's cabinet member for highways and transport, added: "I am delighted for the people of Buckshaw Village that they will soon have a new, state-of-the-art railway station.

"Buckshaw Village is a vibrant, thriving community which I have no doubt will benefit enormously once the railway station is up and running."

Work started in 2002 to create the sustainable village of more than 2,000 homes, with employment areas, open spaces, a district shopping centre, a primary school, outdoor sports activities, footpaths and cycleways.

A planning application by Network Rail for a station was approved in 2008 but it was a revised plan submitted earlier this year which got the go ahead last week.

The two platform station, on the same Manchester to Preston line as Chorley station, is expected to accommodate 450,000 passengers a year and will be operated by Northern Rail.

There will be park and ride facilities on the northern side of the station offering free parking for 204 cars including 10 spaces for disabled parking, and there will be a pedestrian access bridge linking the two platforms.

Lancashire Telegraph 9th August 2010

Buckshaw Village train station plans scaled down

PLANS for a long-awaited railway station in a rapidly expanding Lancashire village have been scaled down with more than a third of park-and-ride spaces cut.

Revised proposals for the long-awaited Buckshaw Parkway, which will serve Buckshaw Village, near Chorley, are set to go before planners August 17.

The station would stand on the Manchester to Blackpool line, with passengers able to get to Blackburn, Burnley and beyond via Preston and Bolton.

However concerns have been raised about changes made by Network Rail from the original plans.

It was originally intended for the station to have 338 parking spaces on two car parks but Network Rail now said land earmarked for one of the parking areas was no longer available, cutting that figure to 204.

The height of the station will be reduced to single storey, platform canopies will be removed and replaced with two waiting shelters and the 20m station footbridge will have a simpler straight design rather than curved.

Coun Mark Perks, who represents the area on the county council, said: "Buckshaw Village deserves the best and most accessible public transport and I hope planners will look carefully at these proposals."

Tony Phillips, 37, has lived in the village for two years and at the moment commutes by car to his civil service job in Preston.

He said: “The village is crying out for a railway link and park-and ride facilities are the key to people like me using the service.

“To lose more than a third of the car spaces planned sounds like it will mean a scramble to park there and could put people off.”

In the planning document, which will go before councillors next week, Network Rail defends the changes.

The firm said: “The changes are a more economical and effective layout while still providing a modern, functional and accessible station.”

Original plans for Buckshaw station were to have it ready for 2004, but after a series of delays the opening was pushed back until 2008 and then summer 2011.

After a shortfall in funding an additional £3.3m from the Community Investment Fund was secured to build the station last year.

Chorley Guardian 19th July 2010

Buckshaw Village railway station delayed AGAIN

Work on a multi-million pound railway station planned for Buckshaw Village has been further delayed. Trains were expected to start calling at the state-of-the-art facility in 2004, but after a catalogue of setbacks the opening was pushed back until 2008 and then summer 2011.

Now residents at a packed Buckshaw Village Community Association meeting have been told that they face an even longer wait after new plans had to be submitted to Chorley Council. The move comes after a shortage in funding meant that the designs for a ticket office had to be scaled back and council chiefs said they could not give a definite date for when it would open, but said it's now likely to be Autumn next year.

Richard Watts, Rail Project manager for Lancashire County Council, said: "Funding for the project is available and so there shouldn't be an issue over the opening date. If we can make it earlier then we will, but it depends if we experience any delays with construction. I'm not going to be over optimistic and give a date that we can't achieve." Mr Watts said planning permission had already been secured for the £6.8m scheme, that will boast two platforms, waiting shelters, a bridge, lifts and staircase. But they have now had to submit fresh plans after scaling down the ticket office to one instead of two storeys.

Caron Taylor from Chorley Council confirmed that they had received the plans earlier this month and said she expected a decision to be made by August. Chair of the community association, Brian Hann said: "Residents in Buckshaw Village are always concerned as there have been lots of promises about different schemes that have still to come to fruition. "For me, the railway station will be the final piece in the jigsaw as well as the retail area and it will help make the village sustainable. "All we ask is that everyone is open and honest with us about any delays and give us a full explanation of the reasons behind them." Chorley MP Lindsay Hoyle said: "I am obviously very disappointed at this news and the fact that the date for the opening of the train station continues to be put back. The extremely long initial delay resulted in a shortfall in funding and after I helped to secure an additional £3.3m from the Community Investment Fund, I had hoped that we finally had the green light for construction. I am sure residents and businesses in Buckshaw Village will share my frustrations and I am keen to work with Network Rail and the local authorities to ensure that progress is made and there are no further delays.

Lancashire Evening Post 25th August 2009

New railway station plans approved

Plans for a new railway station in Lancashire have been approved and building work could start as early as next year.

Network Rail is building the station, which will include a park-and-ride facility, on land between Dawson Lane and Euxton Lane in Buckshaw Village between Chorley and Leyland.

The project was given provisional planning permission in 1999 and gained full permission at a meeting of last week's development control committee at Chorley Council.

Vice chairman of planning, Coun Geoffrey Russell, said: "We are looking forward to it going ahead. We are encouraged by the scale of investment in Buckshaw Village. I believe it's several million pounds."

Buckshaw Village councillor Mark Perks added: "A railway station is absolutely vital for the whole Buckshaw Village site.

"People were promised a good pubic transport network and the railway station was an integral part of that.

"Work should start next year although there are still a few issues to resolve."

The scheme consists of a station building, two platforms, pedestrian bridge over the railway line, parking facilities on either side of the railway and an access road attached to the southern commercial loop road.

The new station building will be able to cope with around 1,400 passengers a day and will be operated by the Northern Train Company.

It will have two floors. At ground floor level there will be a booking hall, ticket office, store, staff facilities and toilets.

The mezzanine floor will include a mechanical plant room, electrical plant room and IT room.

The car park on the northern side of the railway will provide 299 spaces with an additional 16 disabled spaces. There will be 10 motorcycle parking spaces and parking for 50 cycles.

On the southern side of the railway there are plans for 96 car parking spaces with 10 disabled spaces.

However, this parking will not be provided initially and its future use will depend on the popularity of the station.