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Council Says Plans for Long Awaited ‘Guildford West’ Railway Halt Are Back On Track
Published on: 20 Jul, 2019
Updated on: 20 Jul, 2019
Proposals for a long awaited railway station / halt to be sited in the Park Barn area / on the edge of Onslow ward have taken a step forward say Guildford Borough Council.
Viewed from the bridge on Egerton Road, a Farnham-bound train from Guildford passes through the cutting that may be the site chosen for a railway halt.
Councillors have endorsed a detailed feasibility study into the plan with the next stage looking at options and the location for it.
Each stage of the project must comply with Network Rail’s eight-stage Governance for Rail Investment Projects (GRIP). The council reports that stage two is complete and work is starting on stage three.
It adds that subject to funding, the current timetable anticipates the station opening in 2025.
The leader of the council, Caroline Reeves (Lib Dem, Friary & St Nicolas), said: “This station is the perfect platform for supporting car-free travel in Guildford. It will serve a wide network of residents and businesses and will be a key move towards reducing congestion and contribute towards improving air quality.
“The extensive work that has already taken place is a solid foundation on which to take this project forward. The next stage will robustly assess the most appropriate option and location for the new station, and we will be consulting at appropriate stages of the project.”
Finding a suitable site for a railway station or halt and the building of it in the Park Barn area has been a topic of discussion for several decades.
The growth of the University of Surrey, its Manor Park campus, its research park, along with that of the Royal Surrey County Hospital, has all come about since ideas for a station to serve the area to the west of Guildford were first mooted many years ago
Ideas for a similar railway station or halt to the east of Guildford in the Merrow area have, at various times, also been put forward.
Click here for a previous story from 2013.
And a letter on the subject from Cllr Fiona White from 2015.
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Responses to Council Says Plans for Long Awaited ‘Guildford West’ Railway Halt Are Back On Track
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Jim Allen
July 20, 2019 at 9:31 pm
I wonder if Network Rail knows it’s not in their 30-year plan?
Cllr James Steel
July 20, 2019 at 9:54 pm
I’m incredibly excited to see the station at Park Barn progress to a clear timetable subject to funding.
Many of my residents in Westborough [ward] are excited about the process of the station so will be pleased to hear about a clear timetable being presented.
As a Liberal Democrat administration, we are serious about tackling the climate crisis and by having this service more residents in Westborough and Onslow will be able to leave their cars behind and use the railways for access to Guildford, Ash and the forward service directions.
The council have had good engagement with South Western Railway and Great Western Railway for the addition of the station which is showing that there is potential for the viability of the station also.
I’m proud of the work by ward colleague and Deputy Leader of Guildford Borough Council Cllr Fiona White, has done in progressing this at County Hall with the inclusion of a Guildford West railway station in Surrey County Council’s Railway Strategy.
I was also pleased to see a site included in the Local Plan thanks in part to the campaigning and pressure being placed by the Park Barn and Westborough Residents’ Association.
This is a brilliant day for Guildford and the borough and I’m looking forward to the Trainline option “Guildford West” to appear on my Trainline App and board my first train to and from the station.
David Smith
July 20, 2019 at 11:58 pm
Network Rail does not work in 30-year plans.
They actually work in five-year control periods. The current one will be interesting, bearing in mind the company has just sold their commercial estate arch portfolio for £1.46 billion.
The proceeds of which will both fund projects like this and go back into the government’s purse.
It’s great news this project is coming forward. It will provide exactly the type of infrastructure people claimed was missing and therefore enable Blackwell Farm to come forward, as well as providing a fast traffic-free link to Guildford for the university and hospital.
Congratulations to the council both the new executive and old one for persevering.
Jim Allen
July 21, 2019 at 10:06 am
I was referring to the document Network Rail Wessex Route Study Draft for consultation written in 2014, with options that are set out against long-term planning horizon to 2043.
Noting the Local Plan documents of that time (which never changed) were referring to this station but compatible rail documents were not.
The latest Wessex Route study of August 2015 says: “These stations ‘were’ (past tense) proposed”.
Surely, if Network Rail intended to go ahead this would be written as “are proposed”?
I ask again: “Do Network rail know the local council’s intentions to build a station at this location, which now seems to be a sliding station some one-mile long?”
Or is this like the commercially unviable SARP project forced ahead over 15 years (at great expense to the residents) without co-operation of Thames Water and in this case Network Rail?
Lisa Wright
July 22, 2019 at 8:23 am
The station was already marked when the plans to develop the site of the former Apple Tree pub in Park Barn were made, roughly three years ago.
Why is Guildford Borough Council (GBC) now spending more money on a feasibility study for the Pinks Hill bridge area when they know that it is only served by an unmade track through a site of nature conservation common? [As reported by Surrey Live].
Do they seriously plan to carve up more common land to build a road to service the station?
If the station is being built for current residents to access the Royal Surrey County Hospital and the Surrey Research Park, then the obvious place is behind the former Apple Tree Pub site where regular buses already run.
The only reason to look at Pinks Hill Bridge area will be to benefit the University of Surrey’s plans to build on Blackwell Farm and the rest of their land holding further west into Wanborough.
Yet again, I am surprised the council has to bow to the wishes of the University of Surrey. The initial plans to build a station at Pinks Hill were thrown out as the line gradient is too great for train halts, it is too far away from the hospital and current Surrey Research Park (and up a steep hill), and there is no road access from the north without carving another road through Broadstreet Common.
Lastly, Blackwell Farm is also subject to a judicial review, so I find it incredibly unnerving to hear GBC are ploughing taxpayers’ money into a feasibility study for a train halt to service a housing estate that is at best speculative.
Keith Francis
July 24, 2019 at 10:01 am
Why has this taken so long?
This proposal was being mumbled about when I lived in Guildford 50 years ago!
Jules Cranwell
July 24, 2019 at 7:23 pm
The JRs may seem a formality to some, but they are about life and death to those who will suffer the appalling increase in pollution which would be generated by the Local Plan, as it currently stands.
Given the council’s declaration of a climate emergency, it is obvious that we can no longer countenance the destruction of any Greenbelt. The JRs are the only avenue to ensure the key flaws in the LP are reviewed and reversed.