A new Travel Survey from Stirling Council is looking for your views. One of the proposals includes the closure of Bridge of Allan train station so it is important to take a look.
As a response to the climate emergency and in support of economic development planning, Stirling Council are carrying out research on our travel and transport infrastructure and our needs now and into the future. Along with TACtran, the regional transport body, they have been working on a study looking at ways to make it easier to get to jobs, services and opportunities both in Stirling City and places like Glasgow and Edinburgh without needing to travel by car. Along with walking and cycling improvement programmes such as Walk, Cycle, Live Stirling and City Centre South, they are looking at longer distance bus and rail connections, and the Park & Ride/Park & Choose provision.
As part of this they talked to stakeholders including community councils and transport operators, about what developments might solve the problems, and a total of 99 suggestions came out of this. A high level assessment of these options was undertaken against criteria including environment, economy, safety, integration, accessibility/social inclusion, as well as their feasibility, affordability and public acceptability. This led to ten options which were then considered more closely.
More detail on these options is available in the link below. Significantly, one of the options impacts directly on the services provided for the community of Bridge of Allan, namely for a new rail station between Bridge of Allan, Causewayhead and Cornton. Because there would be two stations close together there are two sub-options
– A new rail station between Bridge of Allan, Causewayhead and Cornton keeping the Bridge of Allan Station
-A new station between Bridge of Allan, Causewayhead and Cornton with the closure of the Bridge of Allan Station
Please complete the Survey to ensure your needs are considered. The DEADLINE for the Survey is 3rd January, 2022.
Closing Bridge of Allan station is a ludicrous suggestion. It is already functioning and so the extra cost of building a further station instead is a total waste of money.
I’m sure people in Causewayhead and Cornton can reasonably get to either B of A or Stirling stations- both of which can be accessed by bike with minimal need for the use of main roads to get there.
In my view such a plan would be more liable to increase the use of cars, not reduce it given that you can be on the main motorway network in minutes from Bridge of Allan which would then be the more convenient option.
How about a new station at Cambuskenneth too in that case?
Strongly in favour of keeping Bridge of Allan station where it is. The reopening was long fought for and is good with car parking and is too far from Stirling to walk. A station at Cornton would also be good although it is v close to Stirling station.
There is at present a viable working train station in BofA, with much of the relevant infrastructure. It will possibly require more car charging points, however all the infrastructure is there. People know where it is. Until rail travel was curtailed during the pandemic it was a very busy station, and will no doubt return to it’s former service after things get back to a more normal footing. I firmly believe that the station should remain where it is with enhanced parking and cycle storage, and charging points.
Before Covid, it was extremely difficult to park at Bridge of Allan station after 9 am because commuters from places like Blackford and Auchterarder used it, to the detriment of local people; indeed new housing developments in these communities were marketed as having easy access to free parking in Bridge of Allan. This suggests that there is great demand for a station in Bridge of Allan and that to close it would inevitably involve more traffic through the village at an already busy time. The obvious solution is to extend the parking area at Bridge of Allan to accommodate both commuters from towns and villages to the east, local people and those living in Causewayhead and Cornton. To close Bridge of Allan station would be a big mistake. As for having two stations very close together, there is plenty of precedence for this in other conurbations and would add little to journey times. We should not lose sight of the fact that railway services exist for the convenience of people who want to travel for whatever reason. In the context of trying to reduce car journeys, especially short ones, achieve a better air quality and reduce our carbon footprint everything possible should be done to promote rail travel, not make it more difficult.
I would be in favour of keeping Bridge of Allan Station and having one at Cornton/ Causewayhead
Bridge of Allan station is vital – how do authorities expect people to commute (without a car) to Glasgow, Edinburgh and on several occasions Manchester?!! Honestly, I despair at ‘The Powers that Be’ who probably get a bonus for coming up with cost saving ideas which probably cost more to actually implement.
Watch this space, a tram will be mentioned next!
It is useful to record the views of community members here but it is important that people also complete Stirling Council’s survey using the link above. The output from the survey will likely have greater weight when the Council considers options to take forward.
I am strongly in favour of keeping Bridge of Allan station as I use it regularly. If it were possible to increase the parking at Dunblane station then that would be a better option for people driving in from Blackford, Doune etc and would relieve some of the pressure at Bridge of Allan. However, B of A station carpark could also be extended.
Where would the proposed additional station be located?
I work close to Edinburgh park. I moved to BofA because of the station so I can get to Perth, Glasgow and Edinburgh without having to drive. Moving the station close in to Stirling would ironically put more pressure on the railway crossing because the park and riders from braco, muthil, blackford, auchterarder plus all the Bofa passengers traveling to the new station. (maybe removal of the crossing and creation of a bridge is where the money would be better be spent?)
The train station at Bridge of Allan is a vital link for locals commuting to Glasgow and Edinburgh, as you can see by the fact that the car park is full before 8am on weekdays. Train travel should be encouraged so the addition of another station would be welcome but not as an alternative to Bridge of Allan. It lay unused for years and has been a great asset to the village since it re-opened.
I would favour keeping BoA station and running a circular bus route connecting The University … Causwayhead .. Cornton,… BoA and BoA station…. BoA station needs a taxi rank.
Definitely keep BofA station open. Causewayhead residents can easily get to Stirling Station. Not sure where they possibly think a station could be sited at Cornton that would be of any benefit to them without noise and busier roads. It is a busy station in normal times, evidenced by the Carpark. Enlarge it if possible. It is easily walked to from anywhere in BofA or Cornton. Better for people all round
Absolutely in favour of keeping station open at Bridge of Allan. Another station at Cornton seems excessive. Extending parking at BofA might make more sense – or running buses in peak times on key routes around Stirling/BofA/Dunblane. Having an extra station on the Alloa to Stirling line would make more sense.
I cannot see how closing Bridge of Allan station will contribute towards preventing climate change! The car park there is full by 9am, being used by commuters taking the train to their place of work. And I cannot understand how building a brand new station at the expense of the environment and the use of climate changing materials when there is already a good bus service to Stirling station (where most people will want to board the train as there are more options) from Causeway Head and Cornton. Are we seriously talking greening up our transport system and getting cars off the road or is there something else in Stirling Council’s pipeline that will make a station at Cornton necessary? I suggest you keep Bridge of Allan, a very successful station and expand park and ride with a good service to BofA and Stirling and improve the bus service during commuting hours, possibly with smaller electric buses. A much better use of our money as far as I’m concerned.
After COP26 we should be more conscious of alternatives to fossil fuel transport (car / bus) eg electric trains. Why should Stirling Council even consider making it less convenient and closing the preferred mode of travel!
No-one who lives in Bridge of Allan is likely to vote for closure of ‘their’ station, given that the closure would inconvenience some people, may reduce house prices in the long-term and wouldn’t benefit anyone in Bridge of Allan. However, given that this is about Stirling Council (rather than Bridge of Allan Council), I’m more interested in whether the closure would benefit the people of Stirling as a whole – and especially the people of Cornton, who are perhaps less likely than the people of Bridge of Allan to have access to cars and who therefore may have more need of a local station. For example, would the ‘Cornton’ station only go ahead if money could be saved by closing BoA? In that case, I may be in favour, thinking about the overall benefit to the people of Stirling as a whole – and especially the less privileged people of Stirling.
We need to keep BoA railway station open. Its popular and well used and in an age when railways are making a come-back, closing BoA railway station makes no sense.
Surely the response to the climate crisis, would suggest more railway stations not fewer. How else are we to encourage public transport. Keep Bridge of Allan station.
Definitely in favour of keeping BofA station open.
Bridge of Allan is a well established and well used station prior to the pandemiic and in easy walking distance for many . If itwas closed rather than go to Cornton/ Causewayhead station people would be more likely to get in the car and get on the motorwayThe situation of the station brings trade including tourism directly into the town.
Bridge of Allan original station opened in 1848. More than 200 years ago. In 1965 the station was closed. It took 20 years for the realisation to dawn that a station really was needed, and in 1985 the new station opened. Now 35 years later another closure is being mooted. That makes no sense whatsoever, given the high volume of use. Is there maybe a hidden agenda here with some proposal to redevelop the car park for housing?
Incidentally there was a station at Causewayhead on the Striling – Alloa line, so maybe that’s where a new halt could be built.
Bridge of Allan station should be kept and supplemented by a new station between BofA, Causewayhead and Cornton. An extension of BofA Station Car Park is overdue. Closing BofA station would lead to cars being decanted along Henderson Street which is already a very busy and crowded thoroughfare. People who would walk or cycle to BofA station would have to drive to the new alternative – there is only so far you can trundle a suitcase! Children and seniors require connected and local travel.We need trains that stop at smaller stations as well as at the conurbations.
I wholeheartedly agree with Alison Archibald that Bridge of Allan Station should be kept open and her reasons clearly explain why.
A halt at Causewayhead could be a useful addition. It makes no sense to close Bridge of Allan .
As a regular user of an easily accessible train station in Bridge Of Allan, I have difficulty comprehending what logic there is in closing or relocating it. Aside from the cost of undertaking such an effort it would in my case put a regular train user back in his car which is clearly the opposite of what is desired.
In transport policy terms (car or train?), the closure of Bridge of Allan station would be extremely retrograde. It would also be a major loss of amenity to the town. If a station is required to serve Cornton/Causewayhead, it should be additional to the existing station, not its replacement