Three Bridges depot

Three Bridges depot is an Electric Traction Depot located in Three Bridges, West Sussex, England. The depot is about 1.5 km south of Three Bridges railway station, on either side of the Brighton Main Line.

Three Bridges Thameslink Up Depot
Location
LocationThree Bridges, West Sussex
Coordinates51.1142°N 0.1606°W / 51.1142; -0.1606
OS gridTQ288365
Characteristics
OwnerSiemens
Depot codeTB (2015 -)[1]
TypeElectric Multiple Unit
History
Opened2015[2]

History

Located in the 'fork' between the Brighton Main Line (L&BR 1841), the Arun Valley line (LB&SCR 1848), and the now-closed Three Bridges–Tunbridge Wells line (EGR 1855),[3] the site had historically been used for railway use, having not been built on until railway developments; by 1910 sidings had been built east of the Brighton Main Line, as well as an engine shed and turntable adjacent west of the site;[4] in 2008 the western development area comprised underused sidings and hardstanding with the site east of the mainline including operation sidings, as well as offices; tenants included English Welsh & Scottish Railway, BAM Nuttall, Colas Rail and Balfour Beatty.[5][6]

See also: British Rail Class 700 § Depots

As part of the Thameslink Programme, it was decided that a large fleet of new trains, which were later named the Class 700, would be introduced on the Thameslink network.

In 2008, the Department for Transport commissioned a study into the location of depots for the future Thameslink rolling stock: Network Rail preferred two depots based on an expectation that at times the central area of the Thameslink route would be closed for maintenance outside commercial operational hours, with no workable alternative electrified routes available. A single-depot solution was also investigated, but no suitably large sites were identified for such a facility.[7] Sites were considered at: Wellingborough;[note 1] Hornsey;[note 2] Cricklewood;[note 3] Selhurst;[note 4] Three Bridges; and Tonbridge.[8] By late 2008, the sites had been narrowed to Hornsey, Three Bridges and Tonbridge; finally Hornsey and Three Bridges were selected as a two-depot solution.[9]

In 2009, Arup acting on behalf of Network Rail submitted a planning application for a rolling-stock depot south of Three Bridges railway station on a 13 ha (32-acre) site owned by Network Rail, with facilities on either side of the Brighton Main Line.[10][note 5] The western side of the proposed development included a single-ended 280 by 23 m (919 by 75 ft) three-road maintenance shed 13 m (43 ft) high, a wheel lathe, electricity substation, and sidings for 8 twelve-car trains; the eastern side included stabling for 4 twelve-car trains and an underframe-cleaning facility; both sides of the development were to have separate 325 m2 (3,500 sq ft) train-washing facilities, waste storage, and controlled emission toilet facilities. Site offices and warehousing were to be in a 2,857 m2 (30,750 sq ft) three-storey building northwest of the main shed.[12][13][14]

Planning permission for the development was granted in November 2009,[15] but in December the associated Hornsey depot application was blocked by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government John Denham; Network Rail submitted revised plans for both sites in 2011, with a smaller Hornsey scheme and an expanded Three Bridges scheme.[16] At Three Bridges, additional carriage stabling for 5 eight-car trains with CET facilities was added to the north-west of the original site, on the site of an EWS/DB Schenker freight depot and a shed used for stabling of Virgin Crosscountry'sBombardier Voyager trains;[17][18][19] the main maintenance building was expanded to a five-road building 40 m (130 ft) wide; stabling was increased to 11 eight-car trains on the original western site and 5 eight-car trains on the eastern site; and additional office and accommodation space was specified.[20]

In the same period as the new application, Network Rail submitted plans for a large railway operation and signalling centre to be built adjacent to the Three Bridges depot (see Three Bridges railway station#Three Bridges rail operating centre).[21]

In mid-2013, VolkerFitzpatrick was awarded the approximately £150 million contract to build the two depots.[22][23]

The depot was officially opened by Patrick McLoughlin (MP) in October 2015.[24] The completed main facilities building (MFB) was 256 by 40 metres (840 by 131 ft) with five roads, each with full underfloor inspection facilities, and a light (2.5 t) crane. One road had two bogie drops, and a road was fitted with 25 kV AC electrification for static tests though the main building was unelectrified (third rail). Wheel lathes and carriage washes were outside the MFB.[25]

Allocation

As of 2016, the depot's allocation consists of Class 700 EMUs.[2]

Notes
  1. Including sidings used by GB Railfreight.
  2. Adjacent to the existing Hornsey EMU depot then operated by First Capital Connect.
  3. On development land associated with the planned Brent Cross Thameslink railway station.
  4. On the site of the existing Selhurst Depot used by Southern.
  5. The development was a 'permitted development' under Part 11 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995; the application still required local council approval for certain aspects of the works including the main maintenance building and bridge widening.[11]

References
  1. "The all-time guide to UK Shed and Depot Codes" (PDF). TheRailwayCentre.com. 5 May 2006. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. "Siemens UK - Three Bridges depot opens its doors". Siemens UK. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  3. Network Rail & ARUP 2009, Design and Access Statement. 3.1 p.6.
  4. Ordnance Survey. 1:2500. 1873–4, 1897, 1910
  5. Network Rail & ARUP 2009, Planning Statement ,3.1.1–3.1.3. p.14.
  6. Network Rail & ARUP 2009, Environmental Statement (non-technical summary). 3. p.5.
  7. Network Rail & ARUP 2009, Planning Statement, 2.2. pp.5–6.
  8. Network Rail & ARUP 2009, Planning Statement, 2.2.2. pp.5–8.
  9. Network Rail & ARUP 2009, Planning Statement: 2.2.3–2.25, pp.8–10.
  10. Network Rail & ARUP 2009.
  11. Network Rail & ARUP 2009, Planning Statement: 2.3, pp.10–14.
  12. Network Rail & ARUP 2009, Environmental Statement (non-technical summary). 4. p.7, fig.2 p.8.
  13. Network Rail & ARUP 2009, Planning statement 3.2. pp.15–19.
  14. Network Rail & ARUP 2009, 3BR-GX-201 Three Bridges Site Plan.
  15. Network Rail & ARUP 2011, Planning statement. 1. p.3.
  16. "Thameslink depot size halved after local objections". Transport Briefing. 25 January 2011. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014.
  17. Network Rail & ARUP 2011, Planning statement. 3.2.1, Table 1, p.19.
  18. Network Rail & ARUP 2011, Planning statement 3.1.2 p.16.
  19. Network Rail & ARUP 2011, (3BR-GX-202 07) Revised Scheme Principal Changes.
  20. Network Rail & ARUP 2011, Planning statement 3.2 pp.18–38.
  21. Network Rail & ARUP 2011, Planning statement 1.2, pp.4–5.
  22. "Two depots designed for Desiro City fleet". Railway Gazette. 14 August 2013.
  23. Morby, Aaron (11 July 2013). "VolkerFitzpatrick wins Thameslink train depots". Construction Enquirer.
  24. "Predictive maintenance at the heart of Thameslink EMU depot", railwaygazette.com, 15 October 2015
  25. Wordsworth, Nigel (November 2015), "Visible Improvements – The new Thameslink facilities at Three Bridges", RailEngineer, no. 133, pp. 14–17

Sources
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