Gloucester Transport Hub

Gloucester Transport Hub (also known as Gloucester bus station) is a bus station on Station Road in Gloucester, England.

Gloucester Transport Hub
Front of Gloucester Transport Hub in October 2018
LocationStation Road, Gloucester
Gloucestershire
Coordinates51.865115°N 2.2409584°W / 51.865115; -2.2409584
Owned byGloucester City Council
Operated byStagecoach West
Bus routes
  • 6 – Gloucester to Elmbridge
  • 11 – Gloucester to Quedgeley
  • 13 – Gloucester to Wheatway
  • 22 – Gloucester to Coleford via Cinderford & Ruardean
  • 23 – Gloucester to Coleford via Lydney & Whitecroft
  • 24 – Gloucester to Chepstow via Cinderford
  • 32 – Ross-on-Wye to Gloucester
  • 33 – Gloucester to Hereford via Ross-on-wye
  • 63 – Gloucester to Forest green via stroud
  • 64 – Gloucester to Stroud
  • 71 – Gloucester to Tewkesbury via Twigworth
  • 97 – Gloucester to Cheltenham
  • 98 – Gloucester to Cheltenham
  • 132 – Gloucester to Ledbury
  • 351 – Gloucester to Tewkesbury via Maisemore
[1]
  • 353 – Gloucester to Sandhurst
Bus stands12
Bus operatorsStagecoach West, National Express, Megabus, Pulhams Coaches
ConnectionsGloucester railway station (150 metres)
Construction
Structure typeSteel frame with Cotswold stone, fronted with glass and external render[2]
Disabled accessFully accessible
History
Opened27 October 2018 (Rebuild)

History
Part of the bus station in Kings Square in 1962
Old Gloucester Bus Station bays in October 2012

Until 1933, the main type of public transport in Gloucester was the tram.[3] In 1935, after the closure of the tramlines. Gloucester City Council partnered with the Bristol Omnibus Company leasing out its bus services. At this point in time there was no bus station in the city. However, the old tram depot on London Road was enlarged and used as a bus depot and is today used by Stagecoach West. The original bus station, which had 11 bays, opened in 1962 on the former cattle market site which is now part of Kings Square. This greatly increased the popularity of the shopping area around Northgate Street and Eastgate Street. Also at this time, a new inner ring road through the city was built, with the first part being Bruton Way which runs east of the bus station.[4]

In 2012, Gloucester City Council agreed to a deal with Stanhope plc to revamp the Kings Quarter area. This project was planned to cost £60 million with GFirst LEP providing a budget of £3 million to build a new transport hub to replace the old bus station. At this time, an eight week archaeological project took place to investigate the area around the bus station before any major development work was undertaken.[5] A Roman flood bank was found under the station from this project.[6] In May and June 2016, the old bus station was demolished in preparation for the new one which now had a budget of £7.5 million with £6.4 million of that coming from the government through GFirst LEP.[7] Part of Grosvenor House was also demolished and several businesses including the Furniture Recycling Project had to leave the site.[8]

The original plans for the new transport hub included having a glass front to the northwest side. However, in July 2017 the city council submitted a planning application for a smaller building than originally designed with the northwest side being external render instead of glass. Additionally, the plans to demolish Bentinck House were put on hold. The proposed reason for these changes was due to a sewer being in an unexpected place and to provide greater flexibility for future development.[9] Along with the building plans changes to the road layout around Station Road and Bruton Way were made to make the new transport hub more accessible.[10]

Construction of the new transport hub was started in August 2017 and carried out by Kier Construction, and it opened to the public on 27 October 2018. It has 12 bus bays, a manned ticket office, electronic timetable displays, a cafe and toilets. It also has solar panels to power the internal lighting and features a stained glass window designed by Thomas Denny costing £100,000.[7][11]

As of November 2019, the stained glass window has not been installed and Thomas Denny is no longer involved with the project.[12]

References
  1. "Gloucester, at Transport Hub arrival". Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  2. "Gloucester's new bus station building work passed a big milestone this morning". Gloucestershire Live. 4 April 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  3. The Golden Age of Tramways. Published by Taylor and Francis.
  4. "Gloucester, 1835-1985: Topography". British History. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  5. "Gloucester transport hub to replace old bus station". BBC News. 14 May 2014. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  6. "Roman flood bank found under demolished Gloucester bus station". BBC News. 26 August 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  7. "Stunning new bus station is unveiled". Punchline Gloucester. 1 October 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  8. "Anyone seen where the Gloucester bus station went?". Southwest Business. 9 May 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  9. "Why Gloucester's £7.5m new bus station is being quietly scaled back". Gloucestershire Live. 13 July 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  10. "New road layout for £7.5m Gloucester bus station go on show". Southwest Business. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  11. "This is the exact date Gloucester's new multi-million pound bus station opens". Gloucestershire Live. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  12. "£100,000 stained glass window still not installed at Gloucester bus station after original artist walked away". Gloucestershire Live. 19 November 2019.
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