{"id":225015,"date":"2025-05-27T19:14:23","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T09:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/railuk.com\/?p=177984"},"modified":"2025-05-27T19:14:23","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T09:14:23","slug":"greater-anglia-continues-work-on-revolutionary-stowmarket-station-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=225015","title":{"rendered":"Greater Anglia continues work on \u2018revolutionary\u2019 Stowmarket station bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Greater Anglia has issued an update detailing the ongoing preparation work at Stowmarket rail station ahead of the installation of the first-of-its-kind accessible \u2018AVA\u2019 footbridge, which includes passenger lifts.<\/p>\n

Greater Anglia received funding for accessibility improvements at the station under the Government\u2019s Access for All scheme, as the only step-free way to cross the platforms currently is via the level crossing.<\/p>\n

The \u00a35.5 million project to install the \u2018AVA\u2019 footbridge sees the existing concrete footbridge removed and replaced. In fact, as phase 1 of the project, the old footbridge was replaced with a temporary one in January, to enable other key parts of the project to take place.<\/p>\n

On 17 and 18 May, Stowmarket station was closed as Network Rail completed maintenance on the track between Norwich and Ipswich. To ensure passengers were not inconvenienced, Greater Anglia utilised the station closure, and completed further preparation works at the station ahead of the installation of the \u2018AVA\u2019 footbridge later this year.<\/p>\n

Power and cabling readiness works have been completed, along with the installation of a new storage unit under platform 2. The new storage unit will house some of the additional lift-running equipment.
As the new footbridge and its staircases will be covered by a roof, new drainage is required to accommodate the rainwater runoff from the guttering. On 17 and 18 May, Greater Anglia was able to close the car park adjacent to platform 1 without disrupting passengers and completed the additional drainage installation.<\/p>\n

Platform edging slabs [i.e. copings] have also been repaired on both platforms at Stowmarket station.
This footbridge is the first-of-its-kind and due to unforeseen delays in the manufacturing process for the lifts, the final installation of the footbridge has unfortunately been delayed.<\/p>\n

As the footbridge can only be installed during a weekend in which there are engineering works on the route between Norwich and Ipswich, the footbridge will be installed at the next available opportunity which is in November. The installation will be followed by a short period of on-site testing, and the footbridge is now expected to open before the end of 2025.<\/p>\n

Andrew Goodrum, infrastructure and projects director for Greater Anglia, said: \u201cGreater Anglia is making good progress on the preparation works for this new, first-of-its-kind footbridge ahead of its installation later this year, which will enable easier, more accessible journeys for passengers using, and changing trains at, Stowmarket station.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking forward to delivering this revolutionary new footbridge, complete with lifts, for our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new bridge is a modular design, which is cheaper and quicker to construct. Lifts will be built into the bridge\u2019s design, making it much easier to travel between the platforms.<\/p>\n

It is designed to be more attractive for passengers, more reliable and easier to maintain than traditional designs. Built of stainless steel, it\u2019s designed to be long-lasting and doesn\u2019t need to be painted.<\/p>\n

The modular design and \u2018plug-and-play\u2019 lifts are designed to cut the installation time needed on-site by over half, which is much better for passengers and neighbours.<\/p>\n

Image credit: Greater Anglia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Greater Anglia has issued an update detailing the ongoing preparation work at Stowmarket rail station ahead of the installation of the first-of-its-kind accessible \u2018AVA\u2019 footbridge, which includes passenger lifts. Greater Anglia received funding for accessibility improvements at the station under the Government\u2019s Access for All scheme, as the only step-free way to cross the platforms [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[47,16092,16031,16016,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rail-news","category-stations","category-structures","category-train-operating-companies","category-uk"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=225015"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225015\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":225016,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225015\/revisions\/225016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=225015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=225015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=225015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}