zigger zaggar
Star Player
I have long been advocating that the club should spend (a relatively small compared to player costs) amount of money on paying to build a halt where the old Boscombe train station stood. It would be barely a couple of hundred yards from where the new ground is proposed and would also have a positive impact on Boscombe as a whole. Sadly access to the south side of the line has now gone to the world's largest Travis Perkins but as you say Lew this should form part of the new stadium planning application.This is a really good point.
Given that the new stadium will be closer to Pokesdown station than the existing one, with some joined up thinking and co-operation from a number of interested organisations there is a great opportunity to upgrade both its services and its facilities which are in desparate need of a substantial modernisation and improvement. It is scandalous that nearly 30 years after the Disability and Discrimination Act was passed it still doesn't have passenger lifts serving its platforms despite them having long been promised by many parties without ever actually materialising.
Pokesdown station is much better located to serve thousands of homes in Boscombe, Pokesdown, Southbourne and Boscombe East than the Central Station and requiring the train operating companies to stop all trains there would be a massive boost to both its usage and the convenience of residents of those areas, as well as making it a much more viable form of transport for both out of area home fans and visiting ones on match days. Given that journey times to and from Bournemouth are already painfully slow, another five minutes added to every journey would be a small price to pay for the increase in convenience to thousands of rail users in the locality.
The Football Club could be required to make a contribution to this as part of the Stadium Planning Approval, and the monies allocated to the Council last year by the Government would be much better spent on this project rather than needlessly demolishing the Sovereign Centre as has been mooted.