Access Issues At Crofton Park Station
I was alerted to the problems of access to trains at Crofton Park station, by a reader to this blog who commented here.
So as I was passing through, I decided to stop and take a few pictures.
The pictures are in order, as I walked around the station.
- I walked to the Southern end of Platform 2.
- I used the step-free access to exit the station.
- I walked across the railway on the nearby road bridge on Ley Grove.
- I entered the station using the step-free access at the Southern end of Platform 1
There wasn’t one step on the route.
These are my comments on various issues at the station.
The Simple Step-Free Access
The simple step-free access on the Southbound Platform 2 is shown in full.
Both platform access paths are similar and easy, although there is a slope up to Ley Grove and the bridge across the railway.
This Google Map shows the Platform 2 access.
The wide platform, the two contactless card readers and the seat by the entrance can clearly be seen.
It is a simple design that seems to be well-used by passengers. And not just those who need step-free access.
This type of entrance may work well in London, because contactless ticketing is commonplace. But would it work all stations, where ticket checking is non-existent or a ticket needs to be purchased before getting n the train?
Bad Signage
The locals will know about the entrances, but surely better signage is needed from the road across the bridge to these two entrances.
Steps To The Main Entrance
These are pretty typical of Victorian stations and are fairly long and steep.
I suspect passengers with access problems take care in planning their journeys
Platform To Train Access
The Southbound access is not too bad and is a typical step common all over London, but Northbound access is high with a chasm between the platform and the train.
The Google Map shows the reason.
Partly the reason is the curve of the railway line and the platforms, which rules out the standard solution of a Harrington Hump in the middle of platform, which is usually placed correctly by Thameslink to be by the wheelchair bays on the Class 700 train.
I think the map also shows that to straighten the line through the station would be a major undertaking and probably mean closing the station and the railway line for a couple of weeks.
But as a lady said to me, a friend of hers fell into the chasm.
Perhaps the only solution is to have a powered wheel-chair lift like a fork-lift truck, as the Germans do at some stations.
One on each platform and staff to man it would probably be more affordable than rebuilding the station.
There may also be an alternative solution for walk-through trains like the Class 700 train or London Overground’s Class 378 train.
This picture shows the Southern end of Platform 2,, with a train alongside.
Note that the end of the platform is straighter.
Why not put the Harrington Hump, in this position?
- It would be alongside the step-free access to the station.
- It would not be a major construction.
- It could perhaps be twenty metres long.
- It helps that all trains stopping at Croftton Park station are eight-car trains.
- Phone apps to instruct passengers what to do at particular stations are getting better and more comprehensive.
As the trains are walk-through, passengers can move forwards the front before arrival, if they are getting out at Crofton Park station.
Conclusion
Crofton Park station’s simple method of step-free access icould be used at many stations.
But we also need a method to deal with the curved platform problem and the chasms, it creates.
An Ungated Entrance Used To Create Step-Free Access At Crofton Park Station
Crofton Park station is not step-free and has the usual staiircases.
As I passed through today, I noticed that an ungated entrance had been used to create step-free access.
Passengers are expected to touch-in and out on the touch pads.
I suspect most do!
But it’s a clever idea to build an affordable step-free entrance.
I suspect this type of entrance might become more common in the Oyster-card area.
After all, there are several Overground stations without ticket gates.
The Natives Are Getting Restless In Crofton Park
One of my Google Alerts picked up this article on Brockley Central, which is entitled You Shall Go To Blackfriars – Join The Campaign For Crofton Park Trains Every Fifteen Minutes.
This is said.
Local action groups aren’t supposed to be this successful. The Cinderella Line is a campaign to improve the frequency and quality of services that run through Crofton Park Station.
The group has had a recent success, in that there are now four more trains stopping at the station in the peak.
So I thought I’d go and have a look, getting my paper and some bits of shopping I need on the way.
I had started out, just before 0900, with the aim of getting the 0930 Thameslink train to Crofton Park station. Hopefully, it would have been running a bit late, so I could use my Freedom Pass.
But it was worse than that, as the train had been cancelled, so in the end, I had to take a train to Catford station and then come back a station to get to Crofton Park. As I couldn’t afford to wait, I had to pay for the ticket myself.
Not that I’m bothered!
But did Thameslink cancel the first train after 0930, to force people to catch an earlier train at full price, if they wanted to get to work on time?
Am I being cynical?
These pictures tell the story of my journey to Crofton Park and back via Peckham Rye station to Haggerston station, from where I walked home.
A few points.
Overcrowding
I took three Thameslink trains and one London Overground train this morning.
- St. Pancras to Catford – 8-cars and overcrowded until Farringdon.
- Catford to Crofton Park – 4-cars and crowded.
- Crofton Park to Peckham Rye – 4-cars and overcrowded
- Peckham Rye to Haggerston – 5-cars and plenty of space, with seats for those who wanted them.
Considering, that all these journeys were in the Off Peak, except for the last Overground train, it is just not good enough.
Crofton Park Station
Crofton Park station, is typical of many stations, that are South of the Thames.
- It is certainly scruffy.
- The main entrance is not step-free and the stairs are steep.
- The platforms are ready for twelve-car trains.
- There was a bad gap to mind, between train and platform.
- Staff were only noticeable by their absence.
- A fellow passenger said that announcements were unreliable.
- The information displays were not of the best.
- Typical Off peak services are 2 trains per hour (tph)
But it was certainly a station, that with the spending of some money to add lifts, could be a station of high quality and a modicum of quality.
The New Class 700 Trains
Hopefully, the new eight-car Class 700 trains will improve matters at Crofton Park, as they are better designed than the overcrowded four-car Class 319 trains, that I had to endure this morning.
This report on Brockley Central, says this about the new trains.
“We have also been pushing Thameslink to introduce new Class 700 trains, with 30% more capacity than the trains we currently have. The first of these will appear from the end of November and then replace our current trains at the rate of one per week.
So that is good news.
Extra Services To Victoria And Blackfriars
The report on Brockley Central, says this about the new services.
“From December 12th, four new trains will stop at Crofton Park between 7-9am . Three will go on to Denmark Hill and Victoria and one to Elephant & Castle and Blackfriars.
“The Victoria services currently pass through Crofton Park but don’t stop there, so they will now make the additional stop at Crofton Park.
So that is good news as well.
The interesting thing about these new train services, is that no new services are actually being introduced, but the extra service at Crofton Park is being created by getting a train that normally goes straight through to stop at Crofton Park.
The latest generation of trains, are designed to execute a stop and start in a minimum time, so I think we’ll see extra stops added on more than a few services.
This quick stop feature is achieved by several things.
- Powerful braking and acceleration.
- Wide doors.
- Level step between train and platform.
- Good information, so passengers getting on can find space.
- Good coordination between the driver and staff on the platform.
Increasingly, for some operators, a fast dwell time will be an important factor in choosing the trains to procure and providing a better service.
Here at Crofton Park station, it is being used to get extra trains to stop at the station.
Increasing Thsmeslink Frequency From 2 tph To 4 tph At Crofton Park Station
This is an aspiration for Crofton Park, but I suspect that this cannot be done at present, as there are not enough paths through the core Thameslink tunnel.
So until Thameslink is fully open in 2018, Crofton Park will probably get 2 tph.
Thameslink is consulting on the service when the full service opens.
This document on the Thameslink web site, shows two different services calling at Crofton Park.
- TL8 from Blackfriars (Welwyn Garden City in the Peaks) to Sevenoaks
- TL9 from Kentish Town (Luton in the Peaks) to Orpington.
Both have a frequency of 2 tph at all times,so this gives 4 tph through Crofton Park.
Thameslink put it like this in their proposal.
Thameslink Metro Routes TL8 and TL9 combine to provide four trains per hour (daily) between Central London, Catford, Bromley South and Bickley. During peak times these services may be supplemented by Southeastern Metro services providing six trains per hour.
That’s a well-thought out service, by any standards.
The Catford Metro
I always like calling lines like this a Metro.
As Govia Thameslink Railway have just given the name of the Great Northern Metro to the services out of Moorgate, why not call this line the Catford Metro?
It would call at the following stations.
- London Blackfriars
- Elephant & Castle
- Camberwell (if added)
- Denmark Hill
- Peckham Rye
- Nunhead
- Crofton Park
- Catford
- Bellingham
- Beckenham Hill
- Ravensbourne
- Shortlands
- Bromley South
So it looks like Crofton Park could be in the middle of a Catford Metro.
- It would have a frequency of at least 4 tph.
- It would be running new eight-car Class 700 trains.
- 2 tph would go North to each of Welwyn Garden City and Luton in the Peak
- 2 tph would go North to each of Blackfriars and Kentish Town in the Off Peak
- 2 tph would go South to each of Orpington and Sevenoaks.
- It would have a good connection to the 4 tph South London Line at Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye.
It’s a lot better than Crofton Park has at the present time!
Conclusion
Crofton Park has a big future.
The Anonymous Widower 