Client: Bath Spa Station
Type of works: installed two passenger lifts.

February 2012 has seen the completion of a 12-month project by lift experts, Stannah, in the beautiful historic city of Bath. The installation of two new passenger lifts in Bath Spa Station is part a major refurbishment programme at the station beside the river Avon, and its surrounding area.

Bath Spa Station was built in 1840 by Isambard Kingdom Brunel for the Great Western Railway. The Grade II listed building was unusual in that it was designed with vast ramps leading up to the two platforms - so was almost unique in affording easy access for passengers laden with luggage and disabled travellers well before The Equality Act 2010.

In 2005 First Great Western, who now manage the station, obtained listed building consent to make considerable alterations to the building that would integrate the station with the Bath bus station and the impressive Southgate shopping centre. With most of the building work now completed today’s visitors to Bath really do feel as if they have arrived in the heart of the city.

When leaving the city of Bath by train you now enter the station via a bank of ticket barriers. The Stannah lift to Platform 2, to travel east, is immediately to your right. This 11-person 825kg new bespoke passenger lift has a through car that provides easy level access for all travellers. The lift has a separate motor room housing the Bucher hydraulics with an energy-saving accumulator system. This technology ensures smooth travel and accurate levelling on entry and exit of the lift.

The lift to Platform 2 is a short level walk from the station entrance. This lift is a 16-person 1200kg single entrance passenger lift that provides plenty of space for wheelchairs and child buggies to turn within the lift. A separate motor room, that replicates the first one, is a short distance from this lift.
Both lift cars are finished to industry specifications and therefore meet the requirements of the Lifts Directive (95/16/EC) 1995, and EN 81-1/2 safety rules for the construction and installation of lifts. Manufactured to the highest specification, both lifts are fitted with electronic 3D safety edges to all car doors, alarm push buttons, and two-way communication systems in the cars and at each landing. In-car speech synthesisers also provide lift travel information at each landing. Operating at a contract speed of 0.63 metres per second, they each feature landings with a clear access of 1100mm x 2100mm.

Installing the lifts in a fully operational busy city station was challenging. Stannah have completed more than 90 new lift installations in railway stations right across the UK. Their meticulous attention to safety is invaluable in these situations.

The new lifts are very clearly signed at all points of the station making negotiating your way to your chosen platform extremely easy. After public reticence to accept the changing face of their beloved city, the lifts at Bath Spa Station have been welcomed. 2012 sees building works continue on and around the station. Further benefits of the development will be a new restaurant complex and additional retail units in the Brunel arches.