Southeastern's new station building at Kidbrooke is now open providing connectivity for 5,000 new homes in Berkley Homes Kidbrooke Village development.
Kidbrooke station's new ticket office will bring improvements for passengers with its increased capacity and providing a welcoming environment at both the front of the station and inside the ticket hall.
The new building also offers an impressive gateway for this part of London working hand in hand with its surrounding development.
Ticket vending machines have also been put in place to allow ticket purchases when the ticket office is closed.
The new station build has seen a collaboration of Berkeley, Network Rail and Southeastern with the aim of the project being to create a flagship station building to blend with the Kidbrooke Village development.
The project has seen the partners work hand in hand to make sure that its outcomes would be beneficial to both passengers and railway staff whilst supporting the integration of the wider Berkeley regeneration scheme within the local area.
David Wornham, Passenger Services Director for Southeastern, said:
“We're always wanting to do more for our passengers, and rail passengers in Kidbrooke now have a station built back better of which they can be proud. Regeneration has seen the area around Kidbrooke station transformed in the last ten years, to become a vibrant and modern place to live and work.
“We're also pleased to have been able to work with Berkeley, who funded the new station, and who handled the planning process to ensure the new station sat comfortably amongst the wider regeneration strategy on what was the old Ferrier Estate.”
Paul Harwood, Network Rail's Investment Director for the Southern Region, said:
“The new Kidbrooke Station is a great example of Network Rail working together with the private sector and train operator to massively improve an existing station – and some of this being achieved while working within the constraints that COVID-19 has had on construction activity.”
“The station was funded by Berkeley as part of their new Kidbrooke Village development and the delivery was very much a collaboration between Network Rail, Berkeley Homes and Southeastern trains. It was clear that local stakeholders wanted an easily accessible station, linked to local bus services, and which will deliver a better experience for the residents and businesses of Kidbrooke Village, so we are so pleased to be able to provide this.”
Karl Whiteman, Divisional Managing Director for Berkeley East Thames, said:
“Ensuring that the homes we build are well-connected is key to our regeneration vision for Kidbrooke Village. We've invested over £5 million in local transport facilities in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and this new station is a much welcome addition to the local area. “The station sits right next to the development's village centre, providing a sustainable form of transport connecting residents and local people to London Bridge and Waterloo East in under 20 minutes. This means that Kidbrooke Village really does offer the best of both worlds – set within 136 acres of parkland, wetlands and open space with a range of amenities on the doorstep, yet still within easy reach of central London.”
