Today’s guest blog comes from Sir Peter Hendy CBE, Chair of Network Rail.
It’s a crucial time for Temple Meads station. Investment in a new rail fleet is creating extra train capacity and faster connections between Bristol, London and elsewhere, and passenger numbers passing through Brunel’s masterpiece are expected to reach 22 million a year by 2030.
We’ve wanted to improve Temple Meads station for passengers and people passing through the area for a long time.
We haven’t had the resources to do this on our own, so we’ve grasped a once-in–a-lifetime opportunity to work with Bristol City Council, WECA, Homes England and the University of Bristol to put Temple Meads at the heart of a new urban quarter helping to unlock new homes, jobs, opportunities and connectivity.
Improvements to the station will make it a 21st century transport hub by doubling its passenger capacity and linking to public transport improvements that will reduce congestion, reduce carbon use and make it easier to travel to and around the city.
As part of the Temple Quarter masterplan work we plan to:
- Make it easier for passengers to move around in the station itself, create new platforms and improve existing ones.
- Transform the northern gateway (by the Friary) creating a new concourse with improved retail, ticket office and passenger facilities. The gateway will open up to a new transport hub on the Friary with easy connections for pedestrians, cyclists and the local and citywide bus network.
- Create a new eastern entrance from the station subway opening onto the University of Bristol’s Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus and the east of the city.
We’re excited and proud to see Temple Meads at the centre of this harmonious, co-ordinated plan to create a thriving new quarter in the centre of the city that will help boost the city economy and open up opportunities for people and businesses.
Succeeding in this needs a shared ambition so we really value the support and collaboration from our fellow partners both to create something unique for Bristol, its citizens and economy, and, as we should, putting passengers first on our railway.
Bristol City Council is presenting an overview of the work in Temple Quarter, and an update on how future proposals for the area are progressing, to the Growth and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee next week. You can view the presentation here and here.