13 March - There will be no escalators but what use will the old stairs be?
Who is it that keeps scheduling the Crossrail Liaison Panel meetings for the
same day as Bexley Council’s Transport User’s Sub-Committee meeting? It means
that any Bexley Councillor interested in transport issues probably cannot be at
the Crossrail meeting and neither can the Transport Users’ Chairman Val Clark who
would probably like to improve her knowledge of railway matters. Obviously BiB
readers miss out on a report too.
It could be worse, Tiffany Lynch, Bexley’s Infrastructure Manager, will be at
the next Crossrail meeting and even has her own allocated ten minutes. Unlike many at
Bexley, Tiffany seems to know what she is talking about even though
occasionally, well once to be honest, I’ve felt that she will push Bexley
Council’s money making interests in front of those of residents.
However this time I think I shall be right behind her. I suspect she wants to
knock down the stairs that rise up from Gayton Road to the Harrow Manorway
flyover, next to the railway line.
What
use will they be after the new station opens in October?
The only real purpose the steps serve at present is to provide passengers alighting from southbound buses with
the only realistic route to the station. Such people will use the Pelican crossing in future.
Another current use is by people residing south of the railway line walking
towards Thamesmead, most obviously to Sainsbury’s. The yet to be built station
steps will provide a very similar route without crossing the road. The old steps will be redundant.
If the stairs are removed, people getting off buses who are heading to the
Wilton Road area will be better served by staying on the bus for one more stop.
People like me using Fendyke or Florence Roads to get to the station might
expect the existing stairs to provide quick access to the station but if you
have to wait for the Pelican lights to go red it might not be that quick. It may
be very slightly further but walking under the flyover and up the station steps
would be a lot safer.
Finally, as those who live nearby can testify, there are far too many idiots in
Abbey Wood who think it is fun to drop bottles from bridges and the stairs
provide an ideal vantage point from which to lob them at passing trains.
I can’t think of a single reason to keep the stairs. If you think I have missed
something then please let me know and your view can be submitted. The Liaison
Panel meeting will be on 21st March.
By the way, I keep hearing from people who are absolutely convinced that there
will be escalators running down from the high level station entrance to the
platforms. There will not be. If you look at the platforms right now is is
obvious there is no room internally for more than one lift and one staircase to
each platform. There will be escalators to the mid-platform footbridge.