Cost of £7m new railway station could soar by further £500,000

The latest estimated cost of developing the station at Low Moor, Bradford, on the Caldervale line, is £7.2m but this could rise by another £500,000, a report is warning.

Problems at the proposed site, which have caused the costs to rise, include:

The presence of old mineshafts which previous surveys were unable to locate.

Significant ground slopes and challenging terrain of the car park site and track side access.

Previously unidentified high, medium and low pressure gas pipes which cross the site.

If cost savings cannot be found, the final bill could be more than £7.2m, Bradford councillors are being warned.

The scheme has been allocated funding of £5.5m and discussions are taking place about meeting the shortfall from other budgets.

Members of a council scrutiny committee will discuss a report into the station at a meeting tomorrow.

The document makes clear that the passenger transport authority, Metro, remains committed to the project and the funding is protected and will not be spent elsewhere.

One of the major problems 
centres on safety issues relating 
to building the platform on a curve.

The track curve at the site is around 750m but modern railway standards require the minimum curve radius to be 1,000m at any station to ensure a safe distance between the platform and train.

Metro and design consultants are assessing the feasibility of complying with this design requirement but it could add £500,000 onto the final bill.

The other option is to ask for permission to disregard the safety standard but this is unlikely to be granted.

The report says an updated business case from Metro confirms that three trains per hour would be preferable.

But the report says that achieving this frequency will be difficult.

Richard Gelder, the council’s transport development manager, says in the report: “Discussions with rail industry partners have identified that broader strategic initiatives which have emerged during the life of this project, combined with the complex interactions on the Caldervale line make achievement of a 3tph (trains per hour) or even 2tph service at Low Moor difficult. 1tph can be accommodated more easily, although making an economic case to DfT (Department for Transport) would be challenging.”

Discussions have also taken place about the need for more car parking spaces. Previously the plan was for 117 spaces but, based on three trains per hour, Metro has calculated that a car park of 350 spaces would be needed.

“If this number of spaces were not provided, the 3tph business case would be constrained in achieving the necessary passenger demand due to parking provision being less than half that predicted to be required,” the report adds.

The report says that the car parking facilities could be built in phases, over several years, to reduce the initial capital costs.

Two potential car parking sites have been identified. These are the former Transperience museum site which is almost 1km away from the proposed station. The other is on land south of the current proposed car park, off Cleckheaton Road.

The walking distance of 988 metres to the Transperience site would take eight minutes and is “beyond that recommended in current standards” and the route would feel isolated at night, according to the report.

It concludes that by May next year there should be a “robust solution” to take forward the Low Moor scheme.

A conclusion about phasing the car parking works and deciding on locations is expected by the end of February next year.

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