Mitcham Eastfields now open (sort of)

London's newest railway station opened this afternoon, 8 hours, 2 weeks or 72 years late.

Just 9 months ago it was greenlighted, 5 months ago it was little but dirt, 2 months ago there were still no buildings and a month ago there was no footbridge.

As of today:

• Southern trains are calling, but First Capital Connect trains aren't, whatever Live Departures tells you. Update 3/6: Possibly they are now.
• One of the four Driver Only Operation cameras on the southbound platform is dead, and one of the four on the northbound is out of focus, which must be why only Southern are calling (FCC don't employ any guards).
• The footbridge is open, but the lifts aren't.
• Both platform canopies have panels missing.
• The station building canopy and adjacent platform canopy do not overlap.
• The station building has at least 5 external doors, but as yet none is the promised public toilet.
• Some ticket machines can already you a ticket to the station, but don't expect the barriers at Victoria (either station) to recognise them.
• It has a staffed ticket office, but the opening hours are puny.
• Both platforms have entrances at their far ends, as well as by the level crossing.
• There were a whole load of locals gathered to check out the station, but no staff around.

I shan't bore you with more photos. Go down there yourself - it's easy to get to now and you'll find the best chip shop in London a couple of minutes walk down Tamworth Lane.

Mitcham Eastfields station opening this Monday

There's been a bit of confusion over whether Mitcham Eastfields station would open on Sunday or Monday. In particular, the National Rail Enquiries site had trains in the timetable for Sunday, and explicitly gave that date in its notes.

That's now been fixed. The first train to call at the station appears to be the Southern service from Epsom to Victoria at 5:49am. If you want to be on it, First Capital Connect run all night to East Croydon, where you can catch an early tram to Mitcham Junction, one stop before Eastfields on the Southern service.

The National Rail page notes the footbridge will be available "from Summer 2008", implying it won't be ready for this weekend.

Photo taken two weeks ago. Hopefully it's finished by now.

Update: The opening's been postponed again. See the comments.

Update 2: Opening at 4pm today. The first train to call will be the Epsom-Victoria at 16:10

Mitcham Eastfields: Two weeks to go

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Let's try this again. Mitcham Eastfields station is allegedly opening in two weekend's time, and last we looked, progress was disappointing.

Good news. The final landscaping around the station building is taking shape:

The footbridge is in:

The gap in the southbound platform has been fixed and all of the platform equipment is in:

Even the streetlights work. There are still a few bits and pieces to sort it out but it now very closely resembles a finished station. It'll take extra special effort to not have this open on June 1.

Mitcham Eastfields opening postponed until June 1

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First Capital Connect have posted a revised opening date for Mitcham Eastfields:

We have been informed that Network Rail do not feel the station will be ready to open before Sunday 1 June 2008. It is therefore anticipated that First Capital Connect trains will serve this station from the start of service on Monday 2 June.

FCC don't run trains this way on Sundays, so it's likely the first service will be run by Southern on June 1, and a note on the National Rail journey planner concurs.

The picture is of Greenhithe for Bluewater station, which is a larger version of the same design, with an enclosed ticket hall.

[Thanks to Pedantic of Purley for the FCC link]

Mitcham Eastfields countdown: Two weeks to go

Mitcham Eastfields station is allegedly opening in two weekend's time, and last we looked, progress was disappointing.

Here it is as of last Sunday. The building is almost finished, and the northbound platform has gained fencing and lights on top of its posts:
It turns out I was wrong to think there was anything to be built in the empty end of the building. While some plans show the ticket office at the north end, they've clearly switched it around and that end will be open to the elements. No ticket barriers either.

Still no sign of that footbridge:

The southbound platform has a bit of a localised Shepherd's Bush going on:

Still a lot to do, but the May 18th date isn't looking quite as unlikely as before.

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Mitcham Eastfields latest

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With the opening of Mitcham Eastfields allegedly only a month away, it's time for another visit.

Here's an overview of the site, looking south:

The station building and the northbound platform:

The liftshafts, footbridge columns, and the very end of the southbound platform:
(NB This blog does not endorse the commandeering of handy nearby tall buildings for photography purposes. Unless, of course, there's no one about)

So since three weeks ago they've put up equipment rooms for the lifts as well as pillars for the footbridge to stand on - but still no bridge. The station building has gained eaves and the canopies on both platforms look finished but unpainted, and the platform edging looks complete. The empty end of the building is where the ticket office, toilets and so on will be. Either it's all going to arrive in one piece on the back of a lorry, or they have a lot of work to do.

Mitcham Eastfields opening May 18th-ish

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The new First Capital Connect timetable gives a provisional date for Mitcham Eastfields station to open:

At the time of printing, the exact opening date of the station has not been determined, however it is anticipated that it will open on or close to 18 May 2008. Times of trains at Mitcham Eastfields (which is between Streatham and Mitcham Junction stations) are included in the tables of this booklet. However trains will not call there until the station has opened.

Handy advice in that last sentence.

Prefab action at Mitcham Eastfields

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A week ago I tried to call Network Rail's bluff about their prefab station concept. Looks like I've lost.

In just a week they've erected a couple of lift shafts for the footbridge:

And the best part of a giant station building:
The building should end up looking a lot like the one at Greenhithe for Bluewater, which was built to the same design (turns out Mitcham Eastfields is Network Rail's second modular station).

Mitcham Eastfields station update

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At the end of last year I posted everything there is to know about Eastfields station. Since then they've renamed it Mitcham Eastfield, decided it will be in Zone 3 and possibly First Capital Connect are going to stop there (all according to the latest London Connections map). But with it due to open a few months from now, let's see how construction is going.

[Update: Buildings are up]

On the London-bound platform they've finished the standalone part of the platform and the foundations for the building and are putting up the short station canopy:
When completed, the platform will extend across in front to much nearer the level crossing (see plan).

On the other side of the level crossing, construction of the southbound platform is also nearly complete, as are the foundations for the footbridge:
The brick hut visible in this image is gone.

And here's a bunch of bits (possibly the footbridge) arriving on the back of a lorry:


The immediate location of the station is quite unusual. On one side there's little but school playing fields, and on the other it's surrounded by ramshackle allotments (the station is by the crossing gates in the distance):

There doesn't seem to be much sign of the fast, cheap modular station concept they once bragged about, though maybe that will change now the ground preparation is nearing completion.

Eastfields station

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I've neglected to mention Eastfields, a new station under construction in south London. Construction started a few months ago (after years of talking) and it's scheduled to open some time next year.

It's located between Streatham, Mitcham and Tooting (Google Maps) and I've marked it on our eponymous map. According to the Transport Statement, only the half-hourly Southern services to/from Victoria are expected to call. The line is also part of the Thameslink Sutton/Wimbledon loop service, but it's uncertain if those trains will stop.

The transport statement also mentions that "just over 13,300 residents live within 800m (as the crow flies) of the new station. Only a very few small proportion live within 800m of any other station." A quick check of the London Gaps map bears this out (I've marked it on the version to the right - click to enlarge).

The station itself is interesting in a couple of ways. It's being built at a level crossing with each platform on a different side of the road (plan), so that in both directions trains will go over the crossing before they reach a platform. This allows the gates to reopen while the train is stopped.

Secondly, it's the prototype of Network Rail's "modular" station concept. They're written a long essay on the topic as part of their planning application (though this news article is a lot more digestible). They want to use standard easy-to-maintain components for the station buildings and canopies. Having only one station using standard components isn't very useful, so the plan is to rebuild many stations this way. The concept doesn't extend to the platforms, which are concrete beams on breezeblock walls.

The photos show how far along constructions is. They've built about half the length of each platform, which will eventually be 170m long (for 8 car trains) and a healthy 3m wide, and by my count of the breezeblocks underneath they appear to be so. Both photos are looking north: The first shows the northbound platform, with the site of the station building on the far left. The second is from further south, and shows the southbound platform, with the level crossing and northbound platform in the distance.