Plymouth Railway Station Redevelopment

Back in October 2017 The Herald ran a nice little piece on Plymouth Railway Station which included some great photos

North Road Station was given a major makeover in the early 1960s, and, hot on the heels of the Civic Centre opening, which at the time was Plymouth’s tallest building, we had the opening of a second new city ‘skyscraper’ at the railway station

and ended with The HUGE plan for the future of Plymouth Railway Station

Land at and surrounding the railway station has been allocated for a mixed-use regeneration scheme to create a high quality gateway and arrival point to the city and increases the capacity of the station to accommodate increasing numbers of passengers. But it won’t just be a station. There will also be offices, education facilities, commercial, hotel, small-scale retail development, residential and student accommodation.

The Plymouth 'skyscraper' which you probably drive past without realising (its worth a read with some great photos!)

We then move to 8th February 2018 “Eight major Plymouth building projects,and when they are set to begin and finish”

A whopping £205million worth of developments are set to change the face of Plymouth over the next two years – and here is when the city can expect to see things happen.

Plymouth Railway Station – work starts in 2019

The council is pumping £5million from its capital budget towards a £40million overhaul of the North Road station site. The local authority has been working with Great Western Railway, Network Rail and Plymouth City Council on plans which envision the Intercity House office Office block being refurbished – or even knocked down – and escalators carrying passengers right up to North Cross. ““I’m confident we will be on site in 2019.”

Jump to 17th May 2018 and the Herald: Plymouth's Railway Station and the £100 million pound question

It is understood the project is not under threat – with the council having already pledged £5million – but the Government is looking at ways of paying for it and so is pitching it abroad.  The Plymouth project is earmarked for demolition to begin in 2019 with a view to having the huge scheme finished by 2021, the Government says

By the 4th September 2018 it looks like things could be starting:

Demolition to begin in £100m railway station revamp The first significant steps are being taken on the £100million revamp of Plymouth’s railway station with plans to upgrade the concourse and knock down buildings to make way for a new car park. Plymouth City Council’s Cabinet being asked to approve a £26million funding package – when it meets on September 11, 2018 – which will facilitate a phased upgrade to the station concourse and customer facilities.  Cabinet will discuss demolishing the Rail Incident Safety Centre (RISC) building on the east side of the railway station to enable a new multi-storey car park to be built.

Tudor Evans, Leader of Plymouth City Council, said: “This kick-starts a pledge we made to Plymouth in May: that we would deliver a new gateway to Plymouth at the train station with a new entrance overlooking the city, a new car park and more spaces for business and retail.

First images reveal Plymouth's train station of the future (17th September 2018)

Plans to improve the city’s welcome for rail passengers and regenerate the area around the station are moving forward now the council has  given approval for a £26million funding package. Under the first phase of the ambitious regeneration plans, GWR, working with the council and Network Rail, will work on a phased upgrade to the station concourse and customer facilities around it.

• Demolishing the rail incident safety centre (RISC building) on the east side of the railway station to enable a new multi-storey car park to be built.
• By 2021 a new 469-space car park will be built on the site of the RISC building with almost double the capacity of the existing car park.
• Modernised station staff accommodation.
• Public space works including a direct pedestrian link to North Cross and the city centre.
• A new-look entrance off North Cross will also massively improve the pedestrian access to the station.
• Potential for a new hotel and gateway development on the site of the existing car park, which will be demolished once the new one is completed.

Plymouth's multi-million-pound transport plan for roads, rail, cycling and more 2 October 2018

Plymouth is being invited to bid for a share of millions of pounds of Government cash to improve transport. The city council says it can now work up details of a package a measures, including a key part to upgrade Plymouth Railway Station.

The council says being shortlisted means that it will work with partners to work up the detail of the sustainable transport schemes with the Department for Transport and the consortium of partners that developed the bid

BY May 2019 detail is starting to emerge on the tower block itself

Plans to turn ugly train station building into student nursing hub

The University of Plymouth has plans to turn Intercity House, which stands behind Plymouth Railway Station, into a student nursing and midwifery hub.  A pre-planning application submitted to the council states that if the proposal is accepted, the building will become know as Intercity Place and will see a change of use from offices to academic facilities.

"We’ve started a journey to completely transform the station to create a better sense of arrival. With public transport playing a huge role in tackling climate change, this journey is more important than ever.

"MICA’s design transforms the 10-storey station building with a new gleaming bronze anodised, pleated façade that supports a low energy strategy for the high performing academic building.”

We now bring the story right up to date:

Plymouth station tower to become uni block as part of £100m scheme

Plymouth’s towering but dilapidated railway station skyscraper is to be redeveloped and turned into a university campus for training health professionals - also giving the city a new gateway as part of a £100mllion project The redevelopment, masterminded by the University of Plymouth, would make a major difference to one of Plymouth’s key gateways and is part of a much wider plan for the nearby university campus and the railway station concourse and land in between the two.

But most prominent for the city will be the creation of a glazed top floor viewing room, and possibly a “sky café”, which will act as a “beacon” at night for the city. And an illuminated “halo” of LED lighting on the roof will also make the tower stand out at night and act as a landmark for the city.

“Hopefully we will be able to start work in July or August with a soft strip and maybe erect scaffoldings, but work will mainly commence later  this year and complete in February 2021.”

Like with most large scale developments promised / planned in Plymouth, this has been a long time coming but finally its looking like it really is about to start happening soon. What do people think?

© did by graham: Two icons of the Plymouth Railway scene!