Ash Railway Station. Geograph

From Michael Moriarty

Purely on safety grounds, I’m doubtful whether Network Rail (or local authorities) would wish to release funding to build a footbridge while keeping the level crossing open. But putting that to one side, I fear this line of thinking may start to cascade – leading to support for the closure of the level crossing and a footbridge-only solution purely because of the existence of an “alternative route” existing across the Chester Bridge.

When it comes to closing the crossing, a simple footbridge-only solution cannot be the answer here. The importance of the crossing isn’t just in people wanting to change lines to access other services, but for all railway users and residents of the wider area.

For railway users with access needs, a footbridge-only crossing would massively impact their usage of the station. If they live local to the station and find themselves on the other side of the line, they’ll have to navigate an at least ten-minute walk up and across the Chester Bridge, in place of what is currently roughly a 30 second walk. For those who drive, the car park (and only local parking) is located on the Guildford-bound side of the station.

The crossing at the station is not just a way to access both platforms but is one of the main pedestrian routes in Ash. While the new Chester Bridge can act as a step-free solution, as I have mentioned it adds at least ten-minutes to a journey, almost doubling the time and significantly increasing the energy required to use that part of the route. This means it is not particularly an attractive pedestrian solution, especially when we should be encouraging people not to use their cars as much as possible.

I don’t come at this from on high, but from experience. While I’m reasonably ambulant, I do have a disability and regularly suffer from chronic pain and fatigue as part of it. Being forced to use a footbridge to cross would negatively impact on my life and the lives of other disabled and injured people in Ash, and our safety shouldn’t be put to one side just so abled bodied people can have a slightly faster route across.

Because that is the crux of this – safety. I am deeply, deeply concerned and frustrated by the delays on installing a new, safer crossing at Ash Station. The level crossing comes with risks and while currently “fine”, it should not remain the permanent solution to access here. As Trevor Jones says, people have been seen jumping over the crossing when the barriers are down in the past so its closure must be focused on as a matter of priority. Down the line at Farnborough North, a bridge solution has already been installed relatively recently, so why can’t it happen at Ash?

Network Rail and the local authorities must get their act together in order to sort out a way forward to both improve safety and retain access for all users of both the station and this route through Ash.

This doesn’t even touch on the need to install lifts at Ash Vale station as well, something that is desperately needed for such a well-used station, and news of progress on that is something we haven’t heard of since April.