Biggleswade Lifts Update – 14.01.25.

In what is the 16th update I have posted regarding the provision of step-free access at Biggleswade railway station, I’m cautiously optimistic that at long last the town will have a station accessible to all, perhaps by the end of this year.

In my last update, posted on 25th November, I mentioned there were two internal Network Rail meetings at local and regional level to approve financing for the lifts. I’m pleased to say that the scheme was approved at both meetings and therefore a major potential obstacle has been overcome.

Work will soon be restarting on-site and a temporary scaffolding bridge will be built to enable easier access to the worksites on the platforms during the weekend closures of this section of line on 25th/26th January and 1st/2nd February, The scaffolding bridge will enable work to take place during the week while trains are running. The current hoardings will be lengthened by about a third to accommodate this bridge.

As it stands, the lifts are due to enter service in December of this year.

I should add that while there are now no financial barriers to the project being completed, there remains the possibility of unknown difficult ground conditions or adverse weather impacting this projected finish date. My understanding from what they were saying was that there was not a lot of slack in the timescale and things need to go well to meet the December date.

Proposed appearance and location of the additional bridge at Biggleswade station.

We also spoke about the issues with the current steps, the state of which closed the station recently. They have put in a temporary fix and will be installing a permanent fix in the coming weeks. We have had some concerns that they may, in the medium term, want to shut off access from the current bridge, but they told us that there is no intention to close the access when the new bridge and associated lifts and steps open. We will continue to press for more substantial improvements to these steps, rather than the current ‘make do and mend approach’.

In light of the lifts at the station potentially being in service by the end of this year, I asked GTR yet again what their plans are for staffing levels at the station and whether the station will be staffed from the first train until the last, and if not would the lifts remain open when there were no staff at the station. Yet again they were unable to answer this question. They will have to answer it soon.

You can read the press release from Network Rail here: https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/news/accessibility-upgrades-to-restart-at-biggleswade-station-this-january

Please be assured that I won’t rest until this project is finished and I will continue to press for the UK rail network to be made accessible to all at a far quicker rate than has taken place to date. It is not just morally the right thing to do, it makes economic sense too. Thanks for all your support over the years.

If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me via email at: bedsrailaccessnetwork@gmail.com and follow our Bedfordshire Rail Access Network page here: https://www.facebook.com/bedsrailaccessnow

Julian Vaughan

Chair Bedfordshire Rail Access Network

14th January 2025