Norwood Junction Station Upgrade Consultation

Since direct trains from Forest Hill to East Croydon during rush hours have been culled, I’m guessing quite a few people here might find themselves standing around Norwood Junction on their commute. Therefore the following consultation may be of interest:

https://consultations.networkrail.co.uk/communications/norwood-junction-station-upgrade/

Our proposals

• Modify the existing track and platform layouts
• Provide a track layout that allows more trains to run through and stop at the station
• Reconfigure the platforms to provide dedicated island platforms for northbound and southbound services
• Provide dedicated tracks away from the platforms, for fast non‑stopping trains.

Lengthen and widen platforms

• Lengthen platforms to allow full length (12-car) trains to stop and open all their doors at the station.
• Widen all platforms to provide more space for passengers.

Provide step-free access

• Provide two new footbridges, one with lifts to provide step-free access to all platforms.

Upgrade the signalling

• Upgrade the signalling system to give our signallers the ability to recover the service more quickly when delays occur.

This all sounds great, however:

The proposals for Norwood Junction station are currently unfunded, as are the wider proposals to upgrade the Brighton Main Line. Over the months and years ahead we will continue to make the case for investment in the Brighton Main Line railway 2020.

Feedback can be given via an online survey, or email to consultation@cars2.networkrail.co.uk and closes on July 26th.

Personally I think some small timetabling changes could help service a lot by allowing changing between the Overground and Thameslink services in the morning and evening e.g. the Overground that arrives at Norwood Junction at 07:02 and thus just misses the Gatwick Train which leaves the adjacent platform at… 07:02 most mornings. Or in the evening we have the Bedford train arriving into platform 3 at 18:37, to just miss the Overground leaving platform 1 at… 18:37 and resulting in a mad and dangerous rush through the underpass by some. Station staff suggest that because different train companies operate the services there isn’t much consideration for the timetable.

If it can be done at Norwood Junction, can it be done at Forest Hill, so we could have Thameslink trains stopping?

When the lines south of Norwood Junction are untangled,it should allow for the peak services to East Croydon to return. Incidentally the new design for Norwood Junction has the fast lines going through the middle, which will allow more services to call there without disrupting the mainline as now.

I’ve just had an update email from Network Rail saying:

In June last year we sought feedback from the public on our plans to upgrade Norwood Junction station to provide more frequent and reliable services and a modern, accessible station.

We were pleased with the overwhelming support from those who responded, with 94 per cent of comments indicating that people either agreed or strongly agreed with plans to upgrade the station.

More information on our proposals for Norwood Junction station is available at networkrail.co.uk/NorwoodJunction