Merry hill new bus station

[karl724223]

On centros web site it says that merry hills new bus station has been scrapped to expensive we've heard it's to do with ownership of the land that it was to be built on
And cradley Heath bus and train station being rebuilt

[Stuharris 6360]

On centros web site it says that merry hills new bus station has been scrapped to expensive we've heard it's to do with ownership of the land that it was to be built on
And cradley Heath bus and train station being rebuilt

AGAIN, its not that long since it was built!

[karl724223]

10 million pound investment it says starting next year 2014

[Sh4318]

On centros web site it says that merry hills new bus station has been scrapped to expensive we've heard it's to do with ownership of the land that it was to be built on
And cradley Heath bus and train station being rebuilt

What? Why? Won't this lead to engineering works on the Snow Hill Line?

[Roy]

The problem at Merry Hill is that the land required for the new Bus Station was Westfield land, and Westfield have decided to play hard ball.  The Cradley Heath development will use money from the Brierley Hill Better Bus Area grant which must be spent in the next 15 months or be lost.  I know that Centro are looking at ways to expand the station car park at Cradley Heath, so a redesign and rebuild of the Bus Station may allow some land to be freed up for that.  I would guess that all of the investment will be spent outside the railway station and would not affect train services through the station.

[Stuharris 6360]

On centros web site it says that merry hills new bus station has been scrapped to expensive we've heard it's to do with ownership of the land that it was to be built on
And cradley Heath bus and train station being rebuilt

What? Why? Won't this lead to engineering works on the Snow Hill Line?

More than likely, to be honest i cannot see much wrong with the exising bus interchange as it is. What is it with Centro, they have money, they must spend it. On there website they are asking people to take part in the consultation on how they should save money, if i had known when i filled in the questionaire, i would have said, DON'T REBUILD CRADLEY HEATH INTERCHANGE!  >:(

[winston]

On centros web site it says that merry hills new bus station has been scrapped to expensive we've heard it's to do with ownership of the land that it was to be built on
And cradley Heath bus and train station being rebuilt

AGAIN, its not that long since it was built!

The current Cradley Heath interchange is more than adequate at present for the amount of passengers / services that use it.

If the onwnership of the land for the new site was the main stumbling block, no doubt due to Westfield not playing ball?

Would a simpler solution not have been to sacrifice a strip of land off the carpark in front of Matalan (loosing only approx 50 car parking spaces), and as follows:

1. add an additional new row of twin bus lanes with three extra stances/kassle kerbs etc with a continuous glass walkway linking in to the Matalan canopy thus increasing capacity.
2. set the position of the new bus lanes/stances much further back than to allow the existing two to be re-aligned moving the current lanes further away from the Pizza Hut elevation to eventually increase the size of the bus parking area & in particular the length of parking bays and the area immediately in front & behind. As full size single deckers currently struggle to get in/out of the bays with buses parked either side.
3. The entrance/exit to the bus station via Time Square Avenue should be closed off to through traffic, make it single file for buses to enter/exit the bus station only, you could even add a bus gate to enforce it. That would then allow the front of the bus station to be extended forward to increase the overall surface area & again the number/size of the parking bays

Doing it that way, you would loose fewer car parking spaces, it could be phased to be completed in stages whilst the existing bus station remained open starting with the new stances, working on one at a time you would still always have 6 stances in operation as at present.

It wouldn't be as good as a completely new bus station, but it would increase capacity & the park area whilst making the best of what you have to play with........

[winston]

The problem at Merry Hill is that the land required for the new Bus Station was Westfield land, and Westfield have decided to play hard ball.  The Cradley Heath development will use money from the Brierley Hill Better Bus Area grant which must be spent in the next 15 months or be lost.  I know that Centro are looking at ways to expand the station car park at Cradley Heath, so a redesign and rebuild of the Bus Station may allow some land to be freed up for that.  I would guess that all of the investment will be spent outside the railway station and would not affect train services through the station.

But it sounds as though is should come from the 'Better Train Fund', if the car parking is to be increased this will more likely increase the numbers of passengers driving to the station & commuting in to work on the train. Don't see how is will increase bus ridership!

[Roy]

More than likely, to be honest i cannot see much wrong with the exising bus interchange as it is. What is it with Centro, they have money, they must spend it. On there website they are asking people to take part in the consultation on how they should save money, if i had known when i filled in the questionaire, i would have said, DON'T REBUILD CRADLEY HEATH INTERCHANGE!  >:(

The problem is that it's not Centro's money that's being spent here - it's the Government's and it's been granted to Centro for one specific purpose - to improve Bus Services around Brierley Hill.  They can't just put it in the bank as a way of saving money.

However, I will make a guess that the new Bus Station at Cradley Heath will be smaller than the current one (which is too large as only one bus service terminates there these days) with the released space converted into car parking spaces. 

[Stuharris 6360]

More than likely, to be honest i cannot see much wrong with the exising bus interchange as it is. What is it with Centro, they have money, they must spend it. On there website they are asking people to take part in the consultation on how they should save money, if i had known when i filled in the questionaire, i would have said, DON'T REBUILD CRADLEY HEATH INTERCHANGE!  >:(

The problem is that it's not Centro's money that's being spent here - it's the Government's and it's been granted to Centro for one specific purpose - to improve Bus Services around Brierley Hill.  They can't just put it in the bank as a way of saving money.

However, I will make a guess that the new Bus Station at Cradley Heath will be smaller than the current one (which is too large as only one bus service terminates there these days) with the released space converted into car parking spaces.

True, but Brierley Hill is not Cradley Heath.

[richie]

More than likely, to be honest i cannot see much wrong with the exising bus interchange as it is. What is it with Centro, they have money, they must spend it. On there website they are asking people to take part in the consultation on how they should save money, if i had known when i filled in the questionaire, i would have said, DON'T REBUILD CRADLEY HEATH INTERCHANGE!  >:(

The problem is that it's not Centro's money that's being spent here - it's the Government's and it's been granted to Centro for one specific purpose - to improve Bus Services around Brierley Hill.  They can't just put it in the bank as a way of saving money.

However, I will make a guess that the new Bus Station at Cradley Heath will be smaller than the current one (which is too large as only one bus service terminates there these days) with the released space converted into car parking spaces.

The money is for the Brierley Hill better bus fund which is part of Dudley borough Cradley Heath is in Sandwell if they use that money for that they should be forced to reimburse central government and penalties charged to Centro and Westfield for not sticking to their bid proposals.

[Roy]

More than likely, to be honest i cannot see much wrong with the exising bus interchange as it is. What is it with Centro, they have money, they must spend it. On there website they are asking people to take part in the consultation on how they should save money, if i had known when i filled in the questionaire, i would have said, DON'T REBUILD CRADLEY HEATH INTERCHANGE!  >:(

The problem is that it's not Centro's money that's being spent here - it's the Government's and it's been granted to Centro for one specific purpose - to improve Bus Services around Brierley Hill.  They can't just put it in the bank as a way of saving money.

However, I will make a guess that the new Bus Station at Cradley Heath will be smaller than the current one (which is too large as only one bus service terminates there these days) with the released space converted into car parking spaces.

True, but Brierley Hill is not Cradley Heath.

That's true but Cradley Heath is probably the railhead for Brierley Hill.  Don't forget that Kingswinford is also benefitting from the money - we're getting bus shelters with RTI along the 255 route at present.

[winston]

More than likely, to be honest i cannot see much wrong with the exising bus interchange as it is. What is it with Centro, they have money, they must spend it. On there website they are asking people to take part in the consultation on how they should save money, if i had known when i filled in the questionaire, i would have said, DON'T REBUILD CRADLEY HEATH INTERCHANGE!  >:(

The problem is that it's not Centro's money that's being spent here - it's the Government's and it's been granted to Centro for one specific purpose - to improve Bus Services around Brierley Hill.  They can't just put it in the bank as a way of saving money.

However, I will make a guess that the new Bus Station at Cradley Heath will be smaller than the current one (which is too large as only one bus service terminates there these days) with the released space converted into car parking spaces.

True, but Brierley Hill is not Cradley Heath.

That's true but Cradley Heath is probably the railhead for Brierley Hill.  Don't forget that Kingswinford is also benefitting from the money - we're getting bus shelters with RTI along the 255 route at present.

But that only accounts for £1 million of the funding. Westfield should be contra-charged by Centro & Central Government for all the lost time & costs incurred associated with the initial bid & subsequent work. Westfield were originally due to contribute to the scheme, so they must have had some idea upfront where the new bus station could be located

[Roy]

On another issue, I notice that the new press release says that Bus Companies are contributing £3.3m towards new buses.  The original document said £2.2m.

[andrew1991]

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/transport-news/2013/11/27/1-9m-overhaul-of-cradley-heath-bus-station/