This afternoon we met with Network Rail to discuss the latest news on the scheme to install lifts at Biggleswade station. This project, awarded funding in 2019, has been subject to many frustrating delays, with costs escalating and the completion date slipping ever backward.
My last update on 7th September was unable to provide any estimate of the completion date, but today we were told that they estimate the lifts at the station will be brought into service in ‘late 2025’.
A computer-generated image of the additional bridge containing the lifts at Biggleswade station.
Of course, we have been here before! However, there were some very senior Network Rail people at the meeting and some signs that their internal review of the ‘Access for All’ scheme is finally bringing some much-needed changes in how they approach these accessibility projects – changes I have written about several times previously.
So what has changed? I’m pleased to say that the scope of the works has not changed and the platforms will still be served by 16-person lifts and the new (additional) bridge will also have steps leading down to the platforms. One of the main problems Network Rail faced was the access to the platform to move materials and workers.
They are now proposing to build a temporary bridge to both platforms to enable this. This temporary bridge will cut the overall cost of the project, improve access to the worksites on each platform and slightly reduce the reliance on the scheme to piggyback onto planned engineering closures for the upcoming East Coast Digital Signalling Upgrade.
What are the next steps? The final (reduced) cost of the scheme will be known very shortly and this will have to go through a funding approval process. This will involve two meetings. These are internal Network Rail meetings at a local and regional level. The first takes place on the 17th of December and the second on the 6th of January 2025.
Providing the new costs are approved, work should commence early in the New Year. Our next meeting with Network Rail is in the diary for Monday 13th January.
I have asked that the poster at the station stating that lifts will open in Summer 2025 be changed out as soon as possible and an official press release be issued as soon as possible. I also asked again about staffing levels at the station when the lifts are introduced into service and Great Northern was unable to confirm at this time.
We have had so many setbacks during this project, that it is difficult to get too upbeat about this news, but hopefully we are now getting through the last hurdles before Biggleswade railway station finally becomes accessible to all. This will be a huge benefit, not just to wheelchair users, but also to those with reduced mobility, parents with young children and passengers with heavy luggage.
What’s next? I have a meeting in early December regarding the campaign for lifts at Leagrave station, awarded Access for All funding earlier this year, and I have just kick-started a campaign for lifts at my hometown station of Hexham in Northumberland. You can follow these campaigns here and follow me on Bluesky here. If you have any questions please do get in touch.
Julian Vaughan
25th November 2024
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