The Anonymous Widower

An Opportunity At Catford

I’d never been to Catford before, but several things drew me to the area.

• Catford Bridge station is mentioned as a possible stop for the Bakerloo Line Extension.
• Maps show it is very close to Catford station and I wondered why they weren’t one station.
• Catford is mentioned in the Appendix of TfL’s Transport Plan for 2050, as a place for a new link and/or station.

This Google Map shows the two stations.

Catford Stations

The two stations are only about eighty metres apart and they are not that far from Catford Town Centre. The big drawback is that the road between the stations and the centre is the dsreaded South Circular Road, so it is busy with traffic.

To be fair to Lewisham Council, they have produced this document entitled Catford Town Centre Local Plan.

The plans are sensible and envisage improving the area of the two stations considerably.

This pictures show the area now.

Barratts are building a large number of dwelling on the former Catford Stadium site between the stations. They call it Catford Green and there are more details on the Lewisham Council web site. This is said on the council web site.

The development – located between Catford’s two stations and Ladywell Fields – will comprise 13 blocks up to a maximum of eight storeys in height, along with associated landscaping, including naturalisation of the River Ravensbourne and the creation of a public plaza between the stations, plus a footbridge to Doggett Road.

I’m no architect, but even I can see that the site has a lot of possibilities, especially as the lines through Catford are on a viaduct and are thus higher than the lines through Catford Bridge. So perhaps this natural slope could be used to advantage.

Remember too, these facts.

• Over a million people use both stations in a year.
• Interchange passengers are over fifty thousand a year.
• I think it is true to say that neither station is very customer-friendly and I suspect Catford is rather cold and draughty.
• Catford station will see new Class 700 trains in a few years, as it is on Thameslink.

The effects that the last fact will have on passenger numbers, won’t be negative.

I think it will be unlikely if the two stations are not linked to each other and the town centre by an imaginative development, within the next few years.

November 26, 2015 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Catford Station, Class 700 Train, East London Extension To Lewisham, Thameslink, Trains