Stoke Gifford intercity express depot
Once complete, the Stoke Gifford depot will provide a new purpose built, state of the art facility, incorporating a ten car storage maintenance depot and carriage wash building along with associated rail infrastructure and three new connections to the Great Western Main line.
The new Stoke Gifford depot in Bristol is one of three depots selected by Hitachi to house its new fleet of long-distance intercity express trains that will operate on the Great Western Mainline (GWML).
The depot facilities are being built on a brown field site previously used by a concrete aggregate recycling facility. This has meant extensive testing and checking for contaminants had to be carried out to ensure the site is appropriately remediated.
As a condition of the planning consent, a 500m long culvert, up to 15m deep in places, is being built under the site to take away flood water. The construction of a 7m high noise bund around the depot perimeter protects residents from disturbance.
The depot is located on a triangle shaped site. The ten car storage and maintenance depot is being constructed on the northern corner of the site with a floor area of approximately 4,950 m2.The depot will include two raised maintenance roads with roof and platform level access and 2.5 tonne monorail hoists. To the west of the depot, a two storey building is being constructed to provide office and welfare facilities. Other buildings will house a train wash, wheel lathe and amenity facilities.
Permanent way works including track signalling and overhead line electrification to Network Rail approved standards have also been installed.
Once the depot is in operation, scheduled maintenance work will be carried out inside the workshop during the day whilst trains will continue to be cleaned in the evenings.
At its peak, over 350 people will work on the site during the construction phase. The workforce includes several apprentices from the local technology colleges as part of our National Skills Academy in Construction role.
