Millionaire’s ‘think tank’ proposes £1 levy on flights leaving Gatwick and ‘capturing the rise in local land values’ to help pay for long-overdue upgrade to junction to the north of East Croydon Station
The Good Growth Foundation’s A Gateway to Gatwick – and Beyond argues that the expansion of the airport will only win local support if the benefits reach the communities along the line, starting with Croydon.
The report has a foreword from Natasha Irons, the Labour MP for Croydon East.
CARS – the Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme – was developed by Network Rail to expand East Croydon from six to eight platforms and replace the flat junctions built in the 19th Century with grade-separated ones.
CARS was paused in 2022 for lack of money. Its full cost was previously estimated at around £2.9billion.
The Selhurst Triangle is a Gordian knot of a problem which Network Rail wanted to solve with a series of fly-overs and fly-unders. “Train punctuality on the Brighton mainline is the lowest of any major route as the bottleneck magnifies the impact of even the most minor incident or delay,” Network Rail said in 2018 when they revealed the first version of their plans.
Under the proposals, East Croydon Station was to get an enlarged concourse and two extra platforms, and Norwood Junction was also slated for a significant upgrade.
Unblocking the bottleneck: the case for unblocking the Selhurst Bottleneck, as outlined by Network Rail with its 2018 scheme, is widely agreed. But since Tory cuts in 2022, no one has managed to find the money to pay for it
The plans had cross-party political support, in Croydon and at Westminster.
Croydon, and all points along the Brighton Main Line, including Gatwick Airport, have been readying themselves for the works to get under way for many years.
The Bridge to Nowhere, when constructed in 2012, made space for two additional platforms at East Croydon in anticipation of improvements that have never been made (mind you, the Bridge to Nowhere is yet to be finished too).
The derelict Royal Mail depot at East Croydon was bought by Network Rail in 2019, in anticipation of their needing the land for expansion works… The site remains derelict, seven years later.
Network Rail’s last public consultation in 2018 labelled it as the worst bottleneck in all of Britain’s railways. The problems at the Selhurst junction are well-established, but the solutions remain on the table, unfunded.
According to the Good Growth Foundation, untangling East Croydon could unlock £5.1bilion for the national economy, create 10,500 jobs and see 14,500 homes built – and give commuters back 230,000 hours a year.
In what they call “the immediate crisis”, they claim that “67% of trains at East Croydon are delayed or cancelled”.
The report is premised on plans recently approved by the Labour government to add an extra runway at Gatwick Airport, despite objections from neighbouring residents and environmentalists.
The report estimates that CARS-like improvements at Selhurst and East Croydon could also deliver step-free access at Norwood Junction and what they call (but fail to explain within the whole of their 18-page report) an “East–West Galleria” through Croydon town centre.
It warns that Gatwick’s commitment to get 54% of passengers to the airport by rail cannot be met while the bottleneck remains – and that pressure will only grow as Luton Airport expands and Universal’s new Bedford resort opens on the same line in 2031.
The Good Growth Foundation was founded in 2024 by millionaire Praful Nargund. Nargrund runs his family’s private healthcare business, which mostly provides IVF. In 2024, he was parachuted into Islington North by the Labour Party to stand as its candidate against former leader Jeremy Corbyn. He lost, of course.
Once included in the Daily Torygraph’s “Top 50 Most Ambitious UK Businesspeople”, Nargund is a co-founder of Social Impact Enterprises, “an organisation focused on sustainable business growth”. All this while working this year as a special adviser to Pat McFadden at the Department for Work and Pensions, where his remit has included adult skills, youth employment and the impact of artificial intelligence on the labour market.
The Good Growth Foundation’s “lead economist” is Max Mosley (no, not that one), who is a Labour councillor in Hounslow.
Waiting for a train: East Croydon MP Natasha Irons
Which may provide some context for their Selhurst Bottleneck report, which proposes establishing a “Mutual Investment Model”, to be run through a new development corporation.
“Government, the Mayor of London, Croydon Council, Gatwick, landowners and train operators would each contribute in proportion to what they gain,” the report says.
“Options include a levy on Gatwick, a 50p to £1 charge on departing flights and capturing the rise in local land values. The works would be phased, starting with the Selhurst Triangle junction, which does most to cut delays.”
MP Irons said, “Here in Croydon, we have Gatwick Airport on our doorstep and one of the busiest train stations in the country, yet our own journeys are held up every day by a Victorian bottleneck.
“Two in three trains at East Croydon are delayed or cancelled. That isn’t an inconvenience – it’s a barrier to the jobs and opportunities my constituents deserve.
“Gatwick’s expansion is a big national project, but its success depends on the tracks through our town. Fixing the bottleneck would mean a resident here can reliably reach a good job at the airport or in central London. It’s time to unblock our tracks and make East Croydon the gateway our community deserves.”
Read more: MP backs Network Rail plans to unblock Croydon bottleneck
Read more: It’s time to dust off plans to unblock rail’s Selhurst Bottleneck
Read more: East to go North – Network Rail wants to move a whole station
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