Eastfields station will only be ready to open next month
The opening of the new train station in Mitcham has been put back until June.
A Network Rail spokesman confirmed today that the new Eastfields station, in Eastfields Road, will not be ready to open before June 1, with services starting the following day.
The announcement came despite a statement made just a couple of weeks ago, which said the station - now called Mitcham Eastfields - would be running on May 19.
The long-awaited station, which has been called for since the 1930s, will provide a direct service to London Bridge, Victoria and Sutton in 20 minutes and will be closer to Mitcham town centre than the existing Mitcham Junction station and Mitcham tram stop.
It is the first new suburban station in south London since the Second World War and is in zone three of the capital's transport system.
Called for since the 1930's eh? Hmm. Other sources seem to suggest that planning permission was only granted in August 2007. So if it [italic]does[/italic] open in June 2008, that's going to be an incredibly quick turnaround time, compared with the new Shepherds Bush station for the Westfield shopping centre.
I think you can describe [italic]any[/italic] imaginary piece of transport infrastructure as "called for since the 1930's". Even the A3 Hindhead Tunnel has apparently only been called for since the 1970's, despite the fact that the road which is now the A3 has existed since 1826.
I'm never sure of safety of stations near level crossings, because commuters in a hurry are inevitably going to try to use the crossing when running to catch trains. But presumably that's been thought about. There are very few major railway stations that are not close to busy main roads, since both road and rail traffic tends to need to go to the same places; you don't need to have a level crossing for there to be road safety problems near a railway station.
Called for since the 1930's eh? Hmm. Other sources seem to suggest that planning permission was only granted in August 2007. So if it does open in June 2008, that's going to be an incredibly quick turnaround time, compared with the new Shepherds Bush station for the Westfield shopping centre.
I think you can describe any imaginary piece of transport infrastructure as "called for since the 1930's". Even the A3 Hindhead Tunnel has apparently only been called for since the 1970's, despite the fact that the road which is now the A3 has existed since 1826.
I'm never sure of safety of stations near level crossings, because commuters in a hurry are inevitably going to try to use the crossing when running to catch trains. But presumably that's been thought about. There are very few major railway stations that are not close to busy main roads, since both road and rail traffic tends to need to go to the same places; you don't need to have a level crossing for there to be road safety problems near a railway station.
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