Prototype stainless steel AVA footbridge promises to transform UK rail stations

The UK’s ageing rail infrastructure has always presented a range of challenges for engineers; with many of its 19^th Century tracks, tunnels, and stations requiring constant repair, upgrades, maintenance and modernisation to meet the demands of a modern transport network.

One particular headache - and an issue with which UK rail infrastructure-owner Network Rail has been grappling for some time - is the thousands of small and medium sized stations either without footbridges or with structures that are now nearing the end of their operational lives.

As part of the latest effort to address this, the AVA consortium, a group of UK engineering firms funded by Innovate UK and Network rail, has developed a novel modular footbridge and lift system that is claimed to be greener, longer lasting, simpler to maintain, more cost-effective and easier to install than existing solutions.

Whilst the first AVA bridge is expected to open in summer 2025 at Stowmarket Station in Suffolk, a prototype demonstrator was installed at the Sittingbourne, Kent HQ of consortium partner specialist steelwork fabricator McNealy Brown, earlier this summer. The Engineer went along to have a look.