Sutton Station’s old and unreliable lifts have been replaced, giving rail passengers step-free access between platforms and the station concourse once again after a four-month engineering project.
Platform access: Artemis O’Dea makes use of the renewed lifts at Sutton Station
Network Rail finished the lift replacement work in quick order for the busy station which is served by Southern and Thameslink trains. Now wheelchair users, the elderly and parents with children in pushchairs have better access to their transport.
To speed replacement work, engineers for Network Rail worked on all three lifts simultaneously to finish the work in 17 weeks – less than half the time it would have taken if they’d replaced them one by one. The capacity of one of the lifts has also been increased from 16 to 20 people.
Lucy McAuliffe, Network Rail Sussex route director, said: “The existing lifts at Sutton Station had been in use for 24 years and needed replacing to give passengers reliable step-free access to the rail network.
“We knew this was going to be disruptive, particularly to passengers with accessibility needs, but by replacing all three simultaneously, we finished the job much faster.”
Jenny Saunders, customer services director at Govia Thameslink Railway, which manages Sutton Station, said: “Sutton Station is an important interchange, so it’s really good news that Network Rail has finished replacing the ageing lifts that were becoming increasingly unreliable.
“I’d like to thank all our passengers for their patience.”
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Well done BR – this was needed & other stations need this too.
If BR stands for British Rail(?), George, they ceased to exist in 1997, nearly 30 years ago, or hadn’t you noticed?
I was pleased to find lifts last month (at the Open House London festival) at both Bromley South and Petts Wood stations. Bromley South’s two lifts were apparently installed about 15 years ago, but they hadn’t been there when I used that station in 2004. Petts Wood has four lifts which looked very new indeed.
In the email I received from Southern about the lift replacement it said the work would start on 16th June and was expected to take three months.