Residents and rail passengers are invited to four drop-in events in June, as Network Rail’s long-awaited proposals to upgrade Norwood Junction Station, with step-free access and longer platforms, are put to the public.
According to Network Rail today, “The proposals are a key part of Network Rail’s long-term plans to unblock the railway bottleneck in the Croydon area, to run more reliable and more frequent services on the Brighton Main Line and its branch lines.”
Under the proposals, released for the first time today, Network Rail would remodel track and platforms at Norwood Junction to allow more trains to run through and stop at the station. Wider platforms would provide more space for passengers to wait for, board and get off trains. Platforms would also be lengthened to allow full length 12-carriage trains to stop and open all doors at the station.
Importantly, for this busy transport hub which has trains from Southern, Thameslink and on the London Overground service, the redevelopment would also provide the opportunity to build lifts, providing step-free access to all platforms for the first time.
The public drop-in events take place on:
- Mon Jun 17, 4-9pm, St Chad’s Church, 5 Whitworth Road, Croydon, SE25 6XN
- Tue Jun 18, 5-9pm, South Norwood Primary School, 34 Crowther Road, Croydon, SE25 5QP
- Wed June 19, 11.30am-5.30pm, Stanley Halls, 12 South Norwood Hill, Croydon, SE25 6AB
- Sat Jun 22, 11am-5pm, South Norwood Primary School, 34 Crowther Road, Croydon, SE25 5QP.
“Our proposals for Norwood Junction station would benefit passengers as a standalone project, helping us run longer trains, more reliably and more frequently,” said John Halsall, managing director, Network Rail South East.
Norwood Junctions Victorian infrastructure is about to get some long-promised upgrades
“However, if delivered together with proposals to rebuild East Croydon Station and remodel the railway in Selhurst triangle, would remove the railway bottleneck at Croydon to transform reliability and capacity across the Brighton Main Line and its branches.”
Sarah Jones, the MP for Croydon Central, added: “Solving the Croydon bottleneck is crucial to helping our town grow and get us all from A to B. I welcome this and hope the improvements to Norwood Junction will be a significant part of this.”
Govia Thameslink Railway infrastructure director Keith Jipps, said: “This scheme could make a massive difference to passengers, reducing delays and improving services.”
Providing step-free access to all of the railway stations in the capital had been a promise for a decade, intended to have been in place in time for the 2012 London Olympics. Lift installation work has been on-going this year in a £3.5million project at Selhurst, and also at Coulsdon South.
And although some land acquisition has been going on, Network Rail’s proposals to rebuild East Croydon Station are, as yet, unfunded.
From June 17 to July 15, people will be able to view and comment on the Norwood Junction proposals online at www.networkrail.co.uk/norwoodjunction
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Good news. This has been lobbied for for two decades. Awkward engineering issues being overcome.