Work under way to revamp station’s rotting footbridge
ENGINEERS ARE STRENGTHENING BRIDGE’S CAST-IRON STRUCTURE
WORK to renovate Beverley Station’s 130-year-old footbridge, which closed due to its rotting wooden canopy, has begun.
Engineers began work to strengthen the cast-iron structure of the footbridge at Beverley Station on Tuesday following its closure in September.
Matt Rice, Network Rail’s North and East Route director, said the works were vital to refurbish the footbridge, which dates from the 1880s, while keeping passengers safe.
A Network Rail spokesman told LDRS the restored footbridge is set to open in November. It comes after East Riding Council’s Planning Committee first approved plans to remove the footbridge’s wooden canopy last July.
Councillors heard the grade two listed structure could no longer withstand the effects of wind and the weight of passengers, with no viable options to preserve it. There were concerns that parts of the weakened canopy could start falling onto the tracks below.
But objectors at the time claimed it had become rundown because of a lack of maintenance after standing for 130 years without issue. The cast-iron part of the footbridge was among a series of “Type Ones” installed on North Eastern Railway (NER) lines in the late 19th century.
It is one of the few surviving footbridges of its kind on the Hull to Scarborough railway line. The wooden canopy is thought to be a later addition after the bridge was first installed in 1889.
Network Rail works are set to see the cast iron base of the bridge cleaned, repaired and repainted and its flooring strengthened so it can remain. The iron bridge parapets are set to be replaced with steel replicas, infilled with mesh panels.
Passengers will continue to be diverted along Armstrong Way while the works take place. Mr Rice said he was pleased the works were now getting under way.
The route director said: “This historic footbridge at Beverley Station is an important piece of history that dates back to the 1880s, so it’s vital that we refurbish it sympathetically while ensuring it remains safe for passengers.
“I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we push ahead with this project, and I look forward to the bridge opening later in the year.”
It comes as separate plans have also been lodged to put tactile paving on the edge of both the station platforms.
The Government instructed the paving to be installed in all stations that do not currently have it after the tragic death of a partially sighted passenger in 2020.
Cleveland Gervais, 53, fell off the platform at London’s Eden Park in London and died after being hit by a passenger train.
Plans for the tactile paving at Beverley Station are yet to go before councillors.