National Awards for Plymothian Transport

 

The British Parking Association has awarded accreditation for safe bus stations for several years, but has now launched a new accreditation for long-distance scheduled coach services – and Plymouth’s new coach station is the first to receive it!

The £4.8 million coach station opened to passengers last September with seven bays, electronic passenger information, sail-like steel canopies to provide shelter, an internal heated waiting area, toilets, a staffed ticket office, ticket vending machines, cycle stand, CCTV, a customer help point, a taxi drop off zone and extensive landscaping. The site also works as a satellite tourist information centre with maps, leaflet racks and onward travel information for buses, rail and ferries.

As well as the CCTV cameras, there are regular patrols by security guards at all hours of the day and night to add an extra sense of security for passengers and visitors.

The accreditation system is based on two assessments – a face-to-face customer survey to find out how safe people felt both during the day and out-of-hours and a detailed audit of systems and procedures in place.

Some of the comments which came back from passengers included: ‘security staff and café staff – friendly and helpful’, ‘comfy seating and always nice and clean’, ‘clean and comfortable, warm and good seating. Friendly and helpful staff’ and ‘things have really improved!’

Councillor Patrick Nicholson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport, Housing and Planning said: “We are really proud of this accreditation and it is particularly gratifying to hear that people who use this coach station at all hours of the day and night feel safe. ”

The coach station is operated by National Express. Megabus and SW Falcon also run scheduled services from there. It replaces the old Bretonside bus station which is being demolished as part of a multi-million pound leisure development by British Land.

National Express Coach Managing Director Chris Hardy said: “We are delighted to be awarded this accreditation which is a tribute to the work we and our partners at Plymouth Council have put in to provide the best possible experience for people travelling by coach. Safety is National Express’s number one priority and we regularly review our stations to improve facilities for waiting passengers, such as CCTV, lighting and security patrols to ensure our customers and visitors feel safe. ”

Facilities have to pass a rigorous risk assessment conducted by the police and the British Parking Association. The assessments include management and maintenance of the facility, ensuring that there are appropriate levels of surveillance, lighting, signage and cleanliness, explained Chas Cannon, Senior Area Manager at British Parking Association.

He said: “I am delighted that National Express and the council have achieved the first Safer Coach Station Award as part of the Safer Bus Station scheme.

“I very much look forward to working with National Express to help them achieve further awards at other bus stations across the UK. This is a relatively new scheme, but as we are encouraged to use more public transport and the fact that we are moving towards more interconnected transport networks, the time was right to extend crime prevention schemes into these areas.”

 

 

Its still a shame that they didn't go with the entrance sign as used in the original drawings…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The coach station has also just been shortlisted for the National Transport Awards 2017. The awards are probably the biggest awards ceremony in the realm of public transport and the coach station is up against some very big projects in the construction and engineering project of the year category.

Shortlist: Construction and Engineering Project of the Year

1. Alun Griffiths (Contractors) Ltd, The South Bristol Link (SBL)
2. Bicester to Oxford Collaboration, East West Rail Phase One
3. Costain Ltd, Dover Sea Wall Project
4. Furrer+Frey, Electrification
5. Northern Hub Alliance - Ordsall Chord
6. Plymouth City Council, Plymouth Coach Station
7. S&C North Alliance, Sandy South - 125mph handback of a complex rail S&C renewal
8. Skanska UK, M1 Junction 19 Improvement Scheme
9. Transport for Greater Manchester, Second City Crossing

Its not the only local interest in the awards shortlist this year:

Shortlist: Bus Operator of the Year

1. Brighton & Hove Buses
2. First Hampshire, Dorset & Berkshire
3. Go South Coast
4. LibertyBus - Measuring impact, growing ridership and thinking differently
5. Lothian Buses
6. Metrobus - Inspiring Travel
7. National Express West Midlands
8. Plymouth Citybus
9. Stagecoach East Scotland

And from 2016?

WINNER: National Express West Midlands

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Plymouth Citybus  - maybe they can go one better this year?

British Coach Tourism Awards shortlist

This might come as a bit of surprise to some of you…

Plymouth’s project to create better facilities for coach tours has led to the city being shortlisted as a coach friendly destination in the British Coach Tourism Awards.

The Council embarked a package of works designed to create a better welcome for coach passengers coming to Britain’s Ocean City with its new multi-million coach station in the West End. As part of the project, the team reviewed all the coach facilities across the city to take into account the expanding market. As well as the coach station the Council:

• Re-profiled Derry’s Cross Roundabout in the West End to provide two locations which cater for up to five coaches at any one time.
• Provided two high quality stainless steel and glass passenger waiting shelters with integrated tourist and coach driver information.
• Committed to redevelop existing coach facilities on the historic waterfront, the Barbican, to provide better use of space and greater capacity which will hopefully lead to more coach trips.

Councillor Patrick Nicholson, deputy leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport and Planning said: “Building a new coach station gave us the opportunity to look at what else we could do to make Plymouth as coach friendly as possible.  “As well as these new facilities we have been talking to National Express, the coach station operators who will be able to take holiday and visitor coaches on a pre-arranged basis. This is a market we want to see grow here in Plymouth and we are doing what we can to support it.”

The project team collected data over 18 months and worked closely with a number of stakeholders including the Confederation of Passenger Transport and Destination Plymouth. It looked at making sure there were adequate waiting facilities for passengers, good access, convenient locations, safety particularly in the evenings was also taken into account and access to visitor information to other facilities. It looked at making sure there were adequate waiting facilities for passengers, convenient locations, safety was also taken into account and access to other facilities.

The team also negotiated better facilities provided commercially by the city’s two main bus companies, Plymouth Citybus and Stagecoach, at their depots. At Bretonside driver facilities only included parking. Now, the new facilities offer minor repairs, washing services, toilet drops and complimentary bus passes to allow travel back to the City Centre. As well as facilities the project included an extensive information strategy to make sure the changes were communicated to both the industry and passengers. Maps, highways signs and were also updated as well as websites.

Amanda Lumley, Chief Executive of Destination Plymouth said: “We get lots of visitors who travel by coach particularly from places such as Germany. “Coach tourism will play a part in boosting our tourist figures which will help bring money into the local economy. Having better drop-off and lay over facilities close to key tourist attractions and amenities all helps create a better experience for visitor.

“Getting recognition from the trade through these awards all helps keep us in the spotlight.”

The winners will be announced on Wednesday 22 March at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham

Plymouth City Council 3 Feb 2017

Judging by previous comments here. I seem to be in a minority when it comes to assessing how the council have done with replacing Bretonside. The new coach station may not be the best, but it seems to be kept clean and appears to be operating well enough from what I have seen so far. Bretonside may have been a great place to go and see and more importantly for some, photograph visiting coaches but it was a real dump and presented a very poor first impression of the city to visitors.

Thanks to Richard Smith for the photos

Bumps or no bumps

There was an interesting little article in The Herald recently

Council bosses say there are no plans to put speed bumps in on a major city centre street.

The Herald reported last week how council chiefs are planning to put speed humps around the city's new coach station to keep things moving nice and slow. But town hall chiefs have moved to clear up any confusion over the bumps going in on Mayflower Street itself.

A spokeswoman said: "We'd like to reassure residents, shoppers and traders that there are no plans for speed bumps on Mayflower Street.
Read more at http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/no-speed-bumps-for-plymouth-city-centre-road-promises-council/story-29621049-detail/story.html#yiHJV10JlfA5ImBb.99

What the news item fails to point out is that it was The Herald who actually made the mistake that caused the confusion:

We’d like to reassure residents, shoppers and traders that there are no plans for speed humps on Mayflower Street. The public notice which appeared in the Herald last week and which the paper based their article on, referred to the access road around the new coach station site only. As this is a service road for deliveries and waste trucks, it does not have a name. In the notice, we called this Mayflower Street West Car Park and Coach Station access road and gave the rear of 78 and 80 Cornwall Street as additional information.

It appears an errant comma put in the Herald article has led to some confusion.

The Assistant Director of Street Services posted the public notice in The Herald, highlighting the proposal to put speed humps in Mayflower Street, West Car Park and "Coach Station access road" approximately between the rear of 78 and 80 Cornwall Street. The humps will be 250mm wide, three metres long and 68mm high.

Read more at http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/councils-wants-public-s-opinion-on-speed-humps-at-new-coach-station/story-29614345-detail/story.html#quuddszr0sk8SHHq.99

Speed bumps on the access road around the new station makes a lot of sense.

National Express to run Coach Station

 

The redevelopment of Plymouth Coach Station has reached a major new milestone after coach company National Express signed an agreement to manage the new site.

Heads of terms have now been signed between the UK’s largest coach company and Plymouth City Council, setting out the arrangements for running the new site in the West End of the city centre.

Under the agreement, National Express will be responsible for the day-to-day running of the Mayflower Street facility when it opens for business in summer. Conveniently, the new site is located closer to the train station – ideal for onward connectivity for those needing local rail connections.

National Express will employ a team of staff permanently at the site – creating six permanent new jobs. It means National Express presence will move up a gear from the current site of the coach station at Bretonside with staff on-hand to provide information, process tickets and help with enquiries. The company has been closely liaising with the Council and its contractors to ensure the new station lay out and facilities meet their needs and provide a modern welcoming experience.

The seven bay coach station will also benefit from facilities including real-time passenger information systems, a waiting room, booking office, toilets, a blue badge holder drop off bay, a food and drink concession and ornamental lighting. Additionally, there will be enhanced on-site parking facilities with an 89 space car park and cycle stands, as well as a drop off and pick up area and taxi/private hire bays. The entire site will also be surrounded by extensive landscaping and trees which will dramatically improve the look and feel and ultimately help provide a welcoming sense of arrival.

National Express Service Delivery Director Kevin Gale said: “National Express has been using Bretonside since the early days. We’ve grown up with the coach station and delivered tens of millions of passenger journeys over the years but it is fair to say it’s looking a bit dated.

“We are therefore incredibly excited about the new facility which heralds an exciting new era not only for National Express in Plymouth but also for the city itself.”

Mr Gale, who has enjoyed a long relationship with Plymouth having grown up in the area and started his transport career in the city explained customer experience for coach travellers will be transformed.

He added: “The new coach station is going to be absolutely unrecognisable and we want to create a stunning gateway to Plymouth, offering a really welcoming customer experience. It’s great to see the Council invest in new facilities for passengers and we look forward to having a stronger presence in Plymouth.”

Plymouth has used the same Architect and Project Manager who helped create National Express’ flagship coach station in Birmingham.

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet member for Strategic Transport added: “We are delighted to have National Express on board to run the new Plymouth coach station.”

Work started on the new coach station started at the new site in January, with construction company SWH Civils levelling the site. Work is on track for completion for summer.

The site is the large car park in the middle of the image above whicj must have been taken quite a while back when it was still in use as a car park. Coaches will enter and leave through the gap in the centre of the photo and turn left onto Western Approach. Only about half of the site will actually be for coaches with the left hand side being a car park.

I know many think that the site is too small and that coaches wont be able to get in and out but National Express themselves clearly think otherwise. Stagecoach Megabus have also been consulted so it should be a suitable site. It will certainly be a big improvement on Bretonside for passengers.

Coach Station and Marjon Link

Coach Station one step nearer

Plans for a brand new coach station in the heart of Plymouth city centre have now been formally submitted to planners.
New and updated images are now available showing the latest detail for the £4.17 million project new destination for long distance coaches and a surface-level car park on the former Mayflower West car park site in the city’s West End
Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “This is a significant stage for the project to create a much better welcome for visitors and travellers coming by coach to the city.
“Not only are we providing up to date facilities for today’s travellers, the new location will also significantly increase the number of people coming in and out of the West End, which can only be good for local businesses.”
The new coach station will have seven coach stands that will serve National Express and Megabus. The coach waiting area will be constructed to a very high standard with granite paving and a canopy roof structure. Other features include:
• Real time passenger information systems
• Blue badge holder drop off bay
• Customer help points
• Ticket machines
• Toilets
• Luggage lockers
• Seating area
• Cycle stands
• Soft landscaping
• CCTV
• Ornamental lighting
An indoor ticket office and waiting room will be provided in the former Lloyds Bank building, with toilets, comfy seating, ‘real time’ information screens, ticket office and a food, drink and newsagent concession.
The car park will have around 100 spaces, including dedicated blue badge holder bays, drop off and pick up taxi/private hire bays and coach passenger drop off bays. As with the coach station, the car park will have lighting and CCTV systems to make it safe and secure for users.
New landscaping and trees will surround the site and a sustainable drainage system included to reduce surface water. This will be linked to an irrigation system for the new trees.
New signs for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists will be part of the scheme to make sure that people can find their way around and to the new facility. Access to the new facility will be improved with enhancements to the entrances from Market Way, Cornwall Street and Mayflower Way.

Other features include underground refuse stores for premises around the site perimeter to remove the need for unsightly refuse bins and a new fire escape at the back of Mayflower Way shops to replace the one that was removed when the old car park was demolished.
The final design took into account comments from traders as well as members of he public following a consultation in September.

The new coach hub will replace the tired out-dated coach station at Bretonside, which is being redeveloped as part of a major investment package proposed by British Land, the owner of Drake Circus and the UK’s largest listed retail landlord.
The proposed Drake Circus Leisure development includes an 11-screen cinema complex, 13 restaurants and parking for over 400 cars, as well as extensive improvements to public areas with features, seating and planting. The scheme would transform the link from the city centre to the Barbican and the Waterfront, making it more attractive and easier for visitors and shoppers to move from one to the other.

 

Derriford Major Works

From planned development to a scheme which is about to start, the Derriford Marjon link scheme now enters the construction phase with the new traffic management scheme around the Derriford Hospital which hopefully will ease at least some of the pain.

There will be a significant amount of disruption to Marjons Link Road and Derriford Road.  Please be aware that from 8am Wednesday 14^th January the following measures will come into effect.

1. Traffic entering the Hospital will still be able to travel along Derriford Road and turn right to access the Hospital opposite Marjon Link Road
2. Traffic leaving the Hospital will not be able to exit onto Derriford Road opposite Marjon Link Road but will have to do so by travelling in front of the main entrance and using the mini-roundabout onto Derriford Road
3. The current Bus Only lane which leaves the Hospital and travels to Derriford Roundabout will be suspended to allow any vehicle to use the Bus Lane to exit the site

 

This should help a bit bit expect a certain amount of chaos to begin with at least until drivers get used to it. It has worked fairly well before but buses will be slowed down as they no longer have full use of the bus lane out onto Derriford Roundabout. Could be fun…

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Coach Station: One step nearer

Today we have the first of two unrelated news updates from Plymouth City Council. Both will have quite an impact on the transport scene in Plymouth. We start off with this update on the new Coach Station. Tomorrow we move North…

Plans to build a brand new coach station in the heart of Plymouth city centre have taken a major step forward with the approval of Council funding. The £4.17 million project will provide a new facility for long distance coaches and a surface-level car park with around 100 spaces on the site of the former Mayflower West car park in the city’s West End.
It will also include an indoor waiting area in the former Lloyds Bank building, with toilets, comfy seating, ‘real time’ information screens, a ticket office and a food, drink and newsagent concession, as well as:

• a sheltered outside waiting area with information screens, luggage lockers and a customer help point
• a passenger drop off/pick up area improved paving, CCTV security, lighting and planting
• a drop-off bay for blue badge holders

The new coach hub will replace the tired outdated coach station at Bretonside, which is being redeveloped as part of a major investment package proposed by British Land, the owner of Drake Circus and the UK’s largest listed retail landlord. The proposed Drake Circus Leisure development includes an 11-screen cinema complex, 13 restaurants and parking for over 400 cars, as well as extensive improvements to public areas with features, seating and planting. The scheme would transform the link from the city centre to the Barbican and the Waterfront, making it more attractive and easier for visitors and shoppers to move from one to the other.
Subject to planning permission being granted for the redevelopment of Bretonside and other conditions, British Land will contribute £2.1 million towards the design and build of the new coach hub and car park. The remaining £2.07 million will be funded from the Council’s capital budget.
Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: “The new hub will provide a modern, high-quality facility for long distance coaches and a much better welcome to Britain’s Ocean City. It will also increase footfall in the city centre’s West End, which can only be good for local businesses.
“The scheme has been specifically designed to meet the needs of long distance travellers and takes into account feedback received during our recent public consultation. It will make travel in and out of Plymouth more attractive and convenient for visitors and residents and create a gateway the city deserves.”
The planning application for the new coach station is expected to be submitted towards the end of the month.
Plymouth City Council News Room

Photo credit: © Nick Rice under Creative Commons Licence.

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Coach Station Consultation

West End traders and residents, taxi and private hire companies, transport operators, as well as passengers are all being invited to comment on proposals for a new coach hub for Plymouth.

Plymouth City Council wants to hear what people think about their plans for the hub on the site of the Mayflower West car park in the city’s West End.

Detailed work has been carried out on the proposal which the Council wants to submit for planning permission in October.

The new coach station will have: Up-to-date passenger waiting facilities on Armada Way (Maxwell House). The former Lloyds Bank building will be completely renovated with new front and rear entrances, toilets, ticket sales, comfy seating area, information screens as well as a food/drink/news concession seven coach parking bays (two more than the existing bus station) sheltered outside waiting area taxi rank Passenger drop off/pick up area improved public space with quality paving and planting, improved security with CCTV, lighting and activity Car parking for over 100 cars

The project also outlines changes to the road layouts near the proposed station that would be needed. This includes:

No access for vehicles from Market Way Reversal of one-way system on service road around former Mayflower West Car Park Mayflower Street to become one-way between coach hub entrance and Armada Way Signals installed at coach station and Mayflower Street junction

The project team has written to key stakeholders including the City Centre Company, Plymouth Waterfront Partnership, Destination Plymouth as well as ward councillors, MPs, Plymouth Chamber of Commerce, the emergency services, the Federation of Small Businesses, coach operators, taxi and private hire companies and the Confederation of Passenger Transport

And they plan to hold two events at 171 Armada Way on for anyone to come along and have their say on 16 and 17 September.

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport said: “We know where the new coach station is going to be, but we want to make sure we have got the right features and that the scheme reflects the needs of as many people as possible who will use it.”

Councillor Mark Lowry, Cabinet Member for Assets and Finance said: “This is a big project that could add an extra 200,000 visitors to the West End and shows our commitment to the city centre and its businesses.”

The new coach hub will replace the tired out-dated coach station at Bretonside, which is being redeveloped as part of a major investment package proposed by British Land, the owner of Drake Circus and the UK’s largest listed retail landlord.

The proposal for ‘Drake Circus Leisure’ is for a 12-screen cinema complex, 13 restaurants as well as parking for over 400 cars as well as extensive improvements to public areas with features, seating and planting. The scheme would transform the link from the city centre to the Barbican and the Waterfront, making it more attractive and easier for visitors and shoppers to move from one to the other.

The events take place at 171 Armada Way on Tuesday 16 September from 2pm to 7pm and Wednesday 17 September from 10am to 2pm. The consultation period will run until 22 October. Information and an online feedback questionnaire will be on the Council website www.plymouth.gov.uk/coachhub Click here for larger view (pdf)

I must admit I still like this as it has to be a much better option that the awful Bretonside Coach Station. It is a lot smaller but then it is just for coach services. If it is done properly then this could be a useful addition to this fairly grotty end of town. I am sure many will disagree with me on this! Whatever your views please make sure you let the council know:

 

Consultation Document Plymouth City Council Online Consultation

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