Improvements for passengers using Peckham Rye have moved a step closer this week thanks to Network Rail receiving £1m from the Department for Transport to develop designs for a more accessible station.
Currently, Peckham Rye is the busiest interchange station in the country without step-free access to platforms or accessible facilities for passengers.
Network Rail aims to provide new lifts at the station, making all platforms accessible for parents with buggies, people with shopping and those with mobility issues.
Andrew Wood, Lead Development Manager, Network Rail, said: “Peckham Rye station is the busiest interchange station in the country without lifts, making it difficult for some passengers to use the station. Passenger numbers today have outgrown the original design, platforms and passageways being too narrow, leading to overcrowding at peaks times.
“We want to make the station accessible to all passengers, improve the overall journey experience, make the station safer and provide capacity for long-term growth.
“We are committed to working closely with train operators, rail passengers, Southwark Council, the Arch Company and the local community to take these proposals forward. Over the next 15 months we will be holding online workshops to involve interested parties in crafting the designs.”
Paul Best, Govia Thameslink Railway's Senior Project Manager, said: “Having worked with Network Rail and the local community for over a year since Peckham Rye was designated a priority station for capacity, accessibility and safety improvements, we are delighted that the funding to design a development scheme has been signed off.
“The transformation envisaged will make this important station fit for 21st century travel, with huge benefits for everyone who uses it, and especially our passengers with mobility difficulties.”
Southeastern's Passenger Services Director David Wornham said: “We're always wanting to do more for our passengers and work with Network Rail to improve the facilities at our stations and make them as accessible as possible. Peckham Rye will become much easier to use for all of our passengers as a result of this work.”
Cllr Johnson Situ, Cabinet Member for Growth, Development and Planning, said: “As work begins on the Peckham Station Square, it is good to know that this will be complemented by these much-needed improvements to the station. Together the works will create a welcoming new gateway to the town, which is already becoming a popular destination for people looking for its fantastic cultural and social offers.”
Cllr Richard Livingstone, Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and the Climate Emergency, said: “This is great news for Peckham. These improvements have been desperately needed for many years and so it is good to hear Network Rail is now committing funding to this busy station, especially as we continue to look at more sustainable transport to improve air quality across the borough.”
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I do not see how South Bermondsey needs a bridge as it has an island platform. As for Peckham Rye it has been the subject of plans for almost as long as the forty five years that I have lived here. The early ones of course we’re of the managed decline variety. Most recently I seem to remember £5m was available for a scheme, rejected and the money lost.
Then of course there was / was not the proposed tramway!!!!!!!
Peckham Rye railway station needs a big improvement with all 4 platforms connected together via a footbridge or a subway linking to the platforms and with ramps or lifts to make the station step-free accessible.
Even South Bermondsey could also do with some improvements such as a new footbridge or subway with lifts or ramps so it can be adjacent to Millwall FC The Den stadium and South Bermondsey.
And a new New Bermondsey station on the London Overground South London Line to be built which will also be adjacent to Millwall FC Den Stadium and Surrey Quays Road. Since the extension to Clapham Junction was built in 2010 as part of the London Overground orbital route. And new housing development to be built in the area.