On Thursday 18th April 2013 Transport Secretary and Derbyshire Dales MP Patrick McLoughlin officially opened the new station front, completed after a £2.2 million joint venture between
East Midlands Trains, Network Rail and the Department for Transport. I travelled to Derby on the Friday to have a look. The front of the station has been extensively remodelled, with a new steel and glass canopy beneath a large sign that reads" Derby Midland Railway" in a throwback to the Midland Railway Company who built the track and station here, before British Rail and franchising. Landscaping has also taken place at the front of the station, with recycled plastic benches and a flower bed now installed.
Transport facilities have been vastly improved too, with a new taxi rank, a four stand bus station and a large cycle storage area. All of these amenities are constructed from modern looking glass and steel, and really improve the potential for integrated, door to door transport, without the need to use a car. The bike racks were well used when I visited, which shows that people are choosing to use greener forms of transport, and save on car parking charges too.
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| The new taxi rank at Derby Midland Station improves integrated transport for people without access to a car or a bus service. |
Buses run into Derby City Centre and the new Derby bus station and very frequent intervals, up to every three minutes. Most bus services are provided by Arriva Midlands, although Wellglade subsidiaries Notts and Derby and Kinchbus also run two routes. Notts and Derby run the Unibus 6 from the railway station to Derby University via the City Centre, every ten minutes during term times and less frequently during holidays. Kinchbus run the Skylink which runs from Derby to Loughborough via East Midlands Airport every thirty minutes, with one journey an hour extending through to Leicester. This service runs 24/7, meaning there is always a link from the railway station to the City Centre, where trentbarton run an excellent network of late night bus services.
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Arriva Midlands Wright Gemini FJ58KXX on route 44 to Derby Bus Station picks up
passengers at the new Derby Midland Station bus station. |
The bus stand is well lit and modern, with full CCTV coverage. A central touchscreen information display, similar in style to an iPad, contains details of bus and train departures, transport company websites, local news and tourist information. Although the bus information is not currently updated in real time, there is the facility to do this in the future. All bus stands have seats by them, and there are also clear timetable notices in the event that the electronic display does not work. Across the road, the old bus shelter lies unused, clearly marked with signage informing people to use the new bus station. This is a massive improvement on the old shelter, as the picture below shows. Many people in Derby use the frequent buses to get to the railway station, and this new infrastructure supports that.
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Before and after: Notts and Derby Optare Excel XZ35WRA speeds past the old
bus shelter on the Unibus 6, having called at the new bus station in the background |
Hopefully this remodelling, with a push towards more integrated and environmentally friendly transport, will result in higher usage of buses and trains, and a vast improvement in the passenger experience. All the buses that pass the bus station are accepted in the Derby PlusBus scheme, which provides discounted onward bus travel as part of your train ticket. This means visitors can use over thirty buses per hour to get into the city centre and back out again, with no concerns over the operator. With Skylink running 24/7, there isn't even a last bus!
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