SE23.com - The Official Forum for Forest Hill & Honor Oak, London SE23
Online since 2002   11,000+ members   72,000+ posts

Home | SE23 Topics | Businesses & Services | Wider Topics | Offered/Wanted/Lost/Found | About SE23.com | Advertising | Contact | |
 Armstrong & Co Solicitors



Post Reply  Post Topic 
Pages (5): « First < Previous 1 [2] 3 4 5 Next > Last »
Honor Oak Park Station Upgrade
Author Message
Honor Oaker


Posts: 23
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #21
27-09-2010 12:23 PM

Though making the temporary ramps a permanent feature would be good way of making the station more accesible, it's unlikely to happen because of two words: revenue protection. The ramps would bypass the ticket gates, and LOROL would regard this drawback as more important than the benefits of accessibilty.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
lacb


Posts: 627
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #22
27-09-2010 01:35 PM

I have no doubt that the revenue protection reasoning will prevent this from happening anytime soon. Assuming that the accessibility funding is still ringfenced (I realise a big assumption right now), then surely either ramps or lifts are the way it will have to go anyway eventually.

I was merely stating a personal preference for a ramp solution as a general response to the thread. I think that some extra gates would be a very good idea anyway - has anyone else noticed the evening congestion that can occur when two trains arrive at once?

It may be that extra gates and ramps are cheaper than replacing stairs (again) and installing lifts. I don't know - just a thought. Perhaps the 'further station work' will have some relevance to all this.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
lacb


Posts: 627
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #23
28-09-2010 07:56 AM

Had a further thought on this and I don't think that there need be a long term delay on this due to 'revenue protection'. The access to the ramps could be through the top landing of the new stairs. No need for extra gates (though more would be nice).

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
andrewr


Posts: 296
Joined: May 2006
Post: #24
30-09-2010 07:47 PM

Update on the platform raising suggestion. TfL passed my enquiry onto Network Rail. I've had a call from Network Rail saying that the idea is being investigated with the project team and they will let me know the conclusion. Watch this space...

Given the length of time it took to build and open the new footbridge at Forest Hill, any suggestion that the staircases at HOP could be replaced by Network Rail contractors in two months must be completely improbable. Remember that they are working within feet of an operational railway.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
lacb


Posts: 627
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #25
07-10-2010 09:54 AM

We received a standard letter with salutation Dear Neighbour so no doubt sent to all the local addresses. It is entitled Vegetation Management Works - Honor Oak Park station and is from Network Rail.

Sorry my scanner is not connected right now or would have just posted an image.

In summary, it says that it is necessary to remove all the trees and vegetation from the cutting adjacent to platform 1 in order to stabilise it. This work will commence on Monday 11th October.

The letter is signed by the Community Relations Manager but it is not possible to decipher a name.

Though it also mentions that an ecological suvery will be carried out and that following the works grass and wild flower seed will be planted, there is no mention of returning trees to this cutting - many have been lost already. I for one will miss them and I will contact Network Rail about this.

We are told to visit http://www.networkrail.co.uk or telephone 08457 114141 to ask questions or raise concerns.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
andrewr


Posts: 296
Joined: May 2006
Post: #26
07-10-2010 05:00 PM

I heard a bit more today about the works at Honor Oak Park Station from London Overground's Project Manager.

In order to replace the stairs on the footbridge, new temporary stairs on scaffolding are to be constructed up to the road (both sides of the station). This will obviously entail removing a fair bit of vegetation.

Once the soil removal works by Southwark have been completed, it is expected that it will be possible to remove the old steel piling by platform 1 and regrade the side of the cutting into a gentle slope. This should dramatically improve the appearance of this side of the station but would obviously involve the loss of trees as soil levels are reduced. It will be interesting to hear Network Rail's story, but obviously their first priority has to be to provide a stable cutting.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
lacb


Posts: 627
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #27
09-10-2010 10:17 AM

Heard back yesterday from a man at Network Rail.

They will sow new cutting with grass and wild flowers but have no plans to replant any trees. He did also say these would be allowed to grow back however.

Apparently, though he could not vouch for this of course, Southwark Council are planning to do some landscaping and replanting on their side.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Jon Lloyd


Posts: 151
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #28
09-10-2010 08:39 PM

Directly underneath the highest parts of the stairs on platforms 1 and 2, when you're standing on the platform (just where the kings of hi-vis come and tell you to move away in case you haven't quite got your balance yet at the age of 41) there is what looks like two boarded-up doorways. Could these at one time have been the entrances to lifts? I'd love to know. I'm sure if they were then the option of rejuvenating them must have been looked into? They do look suspiciously like lift entrances though.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
se23northener


Posts: 38
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #29
14-10-2010 04:28 PM

Quote:
Could these at one time have been the entrances to lifts? I'd love to know.


I've always thought these might have been toilets in the past, since there are two doors each platform. Anyone on the forum old enough to remember?

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
tlc


Posts: 4
Joined: Feb 2009
Post: #30
27-10-2010 02:23 PM

So no word on extending the station size/building then? I was always baffled as to who designed/approved only three ticket barriers! It causes such problems at peak times, even at moderately busy times it gets congested. Cursing
Apologies if this has been answered in an earlier thread but any info on this topic would be of interest.
I moved to HOP nearly 4 years ago now, these station improvements have been a long time coming and it's irritating to see the money that has gone into the other stations further up the line with seemingly nothing spent on HOP, well apart from some fake flowers Smile

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
andrewr


Posts: 296
Joined: May 2006
Post: #31
27-10-2010 03:26 PM

Definitely no plans to extend the station building at the moment. The official line on the three barriers is that as people replace their paper season tickets with ones on Oyster, the barriers will be able to handle more people because they go through faster with Oysters. My view is that the whole line has been undersized for the number of people who are using it at present, let alone in the future. The crowding on the escalator at Canada Water is a prime example. Forest Hill Station is one of London's busiest outside zone 1 and yet has only minimal facilites.

Looks like there will be a period whilst the staircases are being replaced when the HOP barriers will be out of use and replaced by temporary validators on the temporary scaffolding staircases.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
mole21


Posts: 13
Joined: Jul 2010
Post: #32
29-10-2010 12:56 PM

Is there any way at this still early stage to petition for ramps and/or lifts? If the platforms and walkways are being upgraded for able bodied passengers then it's discriminatory not to upgrade facilities for lesser abled passengers and those with pushchairs.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
mrcee


Posts: 128
Joined: May 2010
Post: #33
29-10-2010 01:19 PM

It looks like step-free access is scheduled for 2012-2015 http://www.dft.gov.uk/transportforyou/ac...llstations

one would hope that they will bring this work forward to conincide with replacing the stairwell.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
NewForester


Posts: 379
Joined: Feb 2008
Post: #34
29-10-2010 01:42 PM

That was the case, but it was reported in May that funding for "Access for All" had been severely cut. Although this was never confirmed, nor denied.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
andrewr


Posts: 296
Joined: May 2006
Post: #35
07-11-2010 09:43 PM

The plans for the replacement staircases under the Overground Phase 3 works are well advanced. There is no possibility that they could be altered to include lifts. I don't think ramps are realistic at HOP because the distance down is too great. As mrcee says, HOP should have been getting lifts in the 2012-2015 period, but given the spending squeeze and the fact that there are lifts at Forest Hill, the possibility that HOP will be squeezed out of the programme is probably quite high. Step free access should be relatively easy at Brockley and the priority is to ensure the gaps between step free stations are not too high, rather than to update them all.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Honor Oaker


Posts: 23
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #36
15-11-2010 02:19 PM

It looks terribly bare following the latest round of tree-cutting along platform 1. I'll miss hearing the bird-song on spring mornings.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Pico
No longer registered

Posts: 136
Joined: Nov 2010
Post: #37
16-11-2010 12:43 AM

It's very sad to see those trees go. I'll miss the bird song too.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
Theotherbrian


Posts: 95
Joined: Mar 2005
Post: #38
16-11-2010 06:22 PM

I'm glad I'm not the only one saddened by the loss of trees and vegetation - I hate to think what it has done to the area's biodiversity!

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
henryb2


Posts: 19
Joined: Nov 2010
Post: #39
18-11-2010 06:04 PM

I was very saddened when I saw the devastation to the vegetation and trees this morning. Over last summer before I moved to the area I used to always try to change trains and Honor Oak because the surrounding woodland and wildlife made it such a beautiful station and by far the most pleasant along the line to spend a few minutes sat in.

It would be interesting to read the environmental impact report because I imagine from the size of some of those trees they would have been over 100 years old - so not replaceable in a lifetime and with One Tree Hill and Devonshire Road wildlife reserve near by a import wildlife corridor has gone. Hardly trivial.

It would be a shame if the legacy of the cemetery extension and station refurbishment was the permanent destruction of a rare bit of natural beauty in London.

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply
seeformiles


Posts: 269
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #40
18-11-2010 06:50 PM

I was very upset to see the loss of so many trees on my way home tonight. Was it really necessary to devastate such a big area?

Find all posts by this user Quote this message in a reply

Friends of Blythe Hill Fields


Possibly Related Topics ...
Topic: Author Replies: Views: Last Post
  Plans to develop land at Whitbread Rd & adjacent to Honor Oak Park station hillview 3 5,161 05-01-2017 10:03 AM
Last Post: lacb
  Lifts at Honor Oak Park station devsdev 53 46,843 30-01-2015 08:20 AM
Last Post: WestLondonLad82
  Bike theft at Honor Oak Park station scully 8 12,823 20-09-2014 01:51 PM
Last Post: scully
  Extend 63 Bus to Honor Oak Park Station? hopper 85 90,934 01-09-2013 11:04 AM
Last Post: ladywotlunches
  Honor Oak Park station staff kemamira 21 25,292 27-02-2013 10:54 PM
Last Post: Mattya
  Forest Hill Station Upgrade (Phase 3) FHSoc 18 21,288 04-07-2011 07:54 PM
Last Post: rymerster
  Honor Oak Park Station Forecourt theplanner 16 16,716 28-03-2011 07:11 AM
Last Post: Sherwood
  Honor Oak Park Rail Station Redalways 112 114,852 22-08-2010 10:27 AM
Last Post: Theotherbrian
  Work next to Honor Oak Park Station BarCar 15 18,425 06-04-2010 10:50 AM
Last Post: davidl