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Tuesday 14 Sep 2021

Bridging the gap at Liphook as accessible and covered footbridge opens

Region & Route:

Southern: Wessex

| Southern

Network Rail engineers have replaced the footbridge at Liphook station in Hampshire in a £5.2m project to provide better journeys for passengers and improve access to the station.

Over the past nine months, the team have fitted the steel structure, completed the brickwork, added lighting and CCTV and widened station platforms.

There will be a lift on each of the two platforms to provide step-free access for disabled station users, people with pushchairs, and cyclists, set to open in early November.

Mark Killick, route director for Network Rail Wessex, said: “I am very grateful to customers for their patience while engineers worked to replace the footbridge at Liphook station.

“The bridge will deliver better journeys by providing a sheltered and safer route between platforms and we’re now working to install lifts to complete the improvements.

“The team have worked through the pandemic to deliver this improvement and it’s fantastic to be able to open the new bridge as passengers come back to our railway. It will serve the people of the area for decades to come.”

Alan Penlington, SWR’s customer experience director, said: “Its great to see the project to replace the footbridge at Liphook station entering its final phases. Once fully commissioned, these improvements will make a big difference to accessibility at the station and I’m looking forward to the footbridge, lifts and platforms being ready for customers to enjoy.

“With the project lasting over nine months, I would like to say a big thank you to our customers for their patience and understanding whilst Network Rail worked so hard to complete these much needed improvements.”

Andrew Hodson, package manager at Osborne said: “This was a challenging project to design and build a new covered footbridge and lifts to the station. We work very closely with South Western Railway and due to narrow platforms, platform marshals were appointed to ensure safety of passengers and the station is heavily used by children on their daily commute to school. 

“With the project's focus on sustainability and solar-power was used for site accommodation, we worked alongside ecologists to relocate slow worms onto nearby land and we were able to reuse excavated earth from the railway cutting, rather than importing new materials to site.” 

Sustainability was at the heart of the project, with the team using a solar-powered generator to power the site accommodation.

The project team also worked with ecologists to relocate slow worms onto nearby land and are reusing excavated earth from the railway cutting, rather than bringing in new materials.

The previous old uncovered footbridge which was situated further down the platforms has been removed.