Kidsgrove station is 7.5 miles north of Stoke-on-Trent and is served by trains on the Crewe to Derby Line. It is owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway.
Ridge was commissioned by Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council in conjunction with Staffordshire County Council, Network Rail and East Midlands Railway to:
- identify and appraise options for the redevelopment of Kidsgrove railway station;
- produce a concept design to RIBA Stage 2; and
- develop a Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for the preferred option.
Kidsgrove faces several key challenges:
- Heavily congested roads resulting in pollution and poor connectivity between the town and the station.
- Undefined town centre and lack of urban development.
- Inability to capitalise on future growth opportunity through links to High Speed 2 (HS2) services.
- Underused heritage assets such as the station and adjacent canal.
Capitalising on the Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda, the project will deliver part of the long-term strategic vision to unlock Kidsgrove’s potential, via a co-ordinated programme of regeneration. It includes improvements to station buildings and interchange facilities to benefit station users, visitors, and residents of Kidsgrove.
Our Role
The Ridge Project Management Office (PMO) Infrastructure Team led the delivery of the SOBC. Economic advice was provided by Stantec and Karakusevic Carson Architects undertook the RIBA Stage 2 design.
Our team successfully delivered the SOBC and provided multidiscipline engineering consultancy for the design of the station extension and car park. This included mechanical and electrical, civil and structural engineering and transport planning.
Together with the multidiscipline design team, we provided a cost plan to support the design and SOBC. We also led the public consultation for the chosen design options, engaging with – and successfully gaining ‘buy-in’ from – local residents.
We kept the numerous parties in the project steering group updated on progress and resolved strategic design queries.
Added Value
Despite the challenges presented by a reduced delivery window, we completed the SOBC and design on time, to a condensed programme. This incorporated complex stakeholder engagement to gain agreement for the design proposals.
Our Project Managers and Engineers are well versed in Rail Infrastructure projects and the stringent engineering assurance associated with Network Rail.
We received the highest feedback possible from our client who requested that we progressed further design stages of Kidsgrove Station.
