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News and Comment February 2014

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27 February (Part 1) - Crossrail exhibition

Crossrail CrossrailI didn’t learn a lot from yesterday’s Crossrail exhibition at the Abbey Wood Community Centre. The people I spoke to were friendly and enthusiastic but clearly not local. There was a good deal of confusion over what was north and what was south and ditto east and west.

A Crossrail track will terminate on the Thamesmead side (north) of the existing down (for Dartford) platform (see 23d February picture). The existing Dartford bound track, or its position at least, will become a Crossrail track and extended some way towards Belvedere to provide storage for a train when necessary and a connection to the North Kent line.

The present London bound track position will become Dartford bound and a new track to the south will provide Southeastern services to London. The track realignment will be gradual on the Plumstead side but more acute on the approach from Belvedere.

Several local readers along Fendyke Road (parallel to the track on the southern side) have complained about compulsory purchase orders but I was assured there would be no permanent land grab east of the station on the southern side, just temporary access rights. Very close to the station they may have to become permanent shared access rights for maintenance purposes.

The track realignment will commence in May this year; a necessary precursor to building the temporary station by October.

When I asked when the two houses pictured here would be demolished to make way for the new track to the south, no one was able to confirm they had to go at all. I suspect this was part of the east/west confusion on display.

One question fell on stony ground. On Bexley council’s website it says that Controller O’Neill has persuaded Network Rail to provide a canopy the length of the new platforms. No one knew anything about that, nor was any canopy shown on plans dated February 2014.

 

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