Network Rail has announced plans for a £2.6 million refurbishment of Balham railway station in South London.
The main works will see the railway tracks realigned to reduce the gap between the trains and platforms. At the moment, there’s a fairly large step up/down between the two.
Apart from passenger comfort and safety, the smaller gap helps people get on and off trains faster, so the trains run less risk of spending longer than planned in the station, and that reduces delays along the line.
The project will be delivered between November 2020 and March 2021.
As part of the works, the platforms will be refurbished with new surfaces, drainage and tactile paving, and platform canopies repaired and repainted. There will also be new fencing at the London end of platforms to reduce trespass incidents, along with repairs to canopies, including new roof sheeting, guttering and re-decoration.
There will be some line closures needed to carry out the works:
- 10pm Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd Nov 2020
- 10pm Friday 12th to Sunday 14th Feb 2021
- 10pm Friday 20th to Sunday 22nd Feb 2021
Balham may also be one of the stations on the future Crossrail 2, if it’s ever funded, and that would be likely to trigger a much larger rebuild of the mainline station in the future.
Source: https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2020/1 ... rbishment/
Photo credit: Network Rail
