Work is going ahead on a £3.7 million project to install new lifts at Catford station in South London, providing Thameslink customers with step-free access to both platforms.
The changes will ensure the station is much easier to use for passengers with mobility impairments, parents with young children and people with heavy luggage.
Teams from Network Rail are on site, building two new lifts and connecting walkways, using funding from the Department for Transport’s Access for All programme.
The main construction work has now started with the assembly of the steel frames for the two 11-metre-tall lift shafts. The lifts and walkways, which will be covered by the station’s extended CCTV system, are due to be open for passenger use by the end of October 2022.
While work is underway, there is a temporary walkway in place to help passengers get to platform 1.
Jenny Saunders, customer services director for Thameslink and Great Northern, said: “We want to create a more accessible and inclusive railway, where everyone has the confidence to travel no matter what their need for assistance, so we’re delighted to see building work well under way at Catford after our successful bid for government funding.
“These lifts will be welcomed by everyone who finds it difficult or impossible to use the stairs. Network Rail have planned the building work carefully to cause as little disturbance as possible.
“Meanwhile, passengers returning to our services can travel confidently, knowing our trains and stations are cleaned regularly with long-lasting virucides and the air on our air-conditioned trains is refreshed every six minutes.”
Network Rail route director for Kent, Fiona Taylor, said: “Our railway is for everyone and improvements like this make a real difference to our passengers. It’s great to see these works progressing, they’re a step in the right direction, improving accessibility at this busy station.”
