| Slough bus station, badly damaged by fire, now to be sold off Posted by Surrey 455 at 21:59, 29th October 2022 |     |
BBC and other outlets reporting that the roof of Slough bus station has been badly damaged by fire.
BBC News
Firefighters have contained a large fire that spread through a bus station.
At 01:52 BST on Saturday, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) was called to a blaze across the whole roof of Slough bus station.
The cause of the fire is unknown but Tim Readings, group manager for RBFRS, said the blaze is "mostly out".
He said the fire was 20m by 40m in scale and six engines were there to manage the damage.
At 01:52 BST on Saturday, Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) was called to a blaze across the whole roof of Slough bus station.
The cause of the fire is unknown but Tim Readings, group manager for RBFRS, said the blaze is "mostly out".
He said the fire was 20m by 40m in scale and six engines were there to manage the damage.
Metro also has some dramatic photos
https://metro.co.uk/2022/10/29/slough-massive-fire-rips-through-bus-station-and-destroys-vehicles-17660474/
| Re: Slough bus station, badly damaged by fire, now to be sold off Posted by Surrey 455 at 18:41, 17th January 2026 | |
The BBC is reporting that Slough bus station is to be sold to developers because the local council cannot afford to repair it after the fire in 2022.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3edzkdld4yo
Slough bus station, which has been derelict since it was gutted by fire in October 2022, is to be sold-off by the council.
The local authority reached a settlement with insurers last September but received significantly less money than it had been hoped for.
The borough council said it would cost more than £14m to return the distinctive building to its former state, money it says it simply does not have.
It will now be sold off to developers, leaving councillors with far less say on what it might be turned into.
The station was opened nearly 15 years ago as part of the £450m Heart of Slough regeneration programme.
The curved aluminium structure was designed with a nod to one of the town's most famous sons, the scientist William Herschel, and was inspired by wavelengths of light from one of his experiments.
Keeping the now derelict building safe and secure was costing the cash-strapped council £19,000 a month, a figure it said was unsustainable.
The local authority reached a settlement with insurers last September but received significantly less money than it had been hoped for.
The borough council said it would cost more than £14m to return the distinctive building to its former state, money it says it simply does not have.
It will now be sold off to developers, leaving councillors with far less say on what it might be turned into.
The station was opened nearly 15 years ago as part of the £450m Heart of Slough regeneration programme.
The curved aluminium structure was designed with a nod to one of the town's most famous sons, the scientist William Herschel, and was inspired by wavelengths of light from one of his experiments.
Keeping the now derelict building safe and secure was costing the cash-strapped council £19,000 a month, a figure it said was unsustainable.
I previously wrote about how unsuitable it was in rainy conditions so my preferred options would be to demolish it and then either replace with a better designed facility or carry on with the current stopping arrangements.
https://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=21756.msg267280#msg267280
| Re: Slough bus station, badly damaged by fire, now to be sold off Posted by Ralph Ayres at 17:44, 18th January 2026 | |
The current arrangements dump passengers from many routes on the wrong side of a dual carriageway from the station, with no clear route between the two. I don't miss that bus station at all (its predecessor was pretty grim but at least kept the rain off!) but I hope there will finally be a proper review of stopping arrangements with the council using what payout they do get to best effect. They really should keep at least some of the land to allow more buses to serve the station.
