As I understand it, Southern or Network Rail or one of the other companies involved in running the trains owns the station, so the only way that something would get done is if they decided that they wanted to do so (and since Forest Hill is already heavily used, they probably don't see much of a business case for improvements).

Oyster readers are due to be implemented before too long though, after Citizen Ken (sorry, Mayor Ken) recently agreed to pay the rail companies ?20m to implement them by 2009 (if my memory serves me correctly).

I was walking under the railway bridge today and was reminded how generally crummy and depressing it looks. We get thousands passing through Forest Hill every day who are confronted with the same thing. How about putting putting metal grills in front of it and growing trailing plants there to disguise the bridge and initiate a leitmotif of greenery that would sit appropriately with a suburb called Forest Hill?

I'd guess anything requiring lots of ongoing maintenance is probably out of the picture.

Also, I have a feeling that the railway bridge belongs to one of the railway companies, so the council couldn't do anything about it even if they wanted to (anyone know if this is correct?).

Railtrack probably own it?