Beckenham Junction station footbridge

[43066]

The footbridge at Beckenham Junction has now been closed for repairs for a period of time, with signs indicating that it will be “closed from Feb until further notice”.

What they don’t state is that this is referring to Feb last year, so for well over a year now passengers arriving in the station car park by bus or tram who intend to travel in the down direction have had to leave the station entirely and cross via the pavement on the Southend Road/High St. road bridge.

This takes significantly longer than the footbridge used to, and effectively means if you’re in the ticket office as your train is pulling into the opposite platform, you have zero chance of catching it. Hardly ideal when combined with the off peak Victoria - Orpington service being stripped back to half hourly to please the DfT.

Any ideas why this is taking so long?

 

[Islineclear3_1]

My wife frequently uses the nearby Waitrose and on nearly all of her visits, she has not seen anyone working on the footbridge.

 

[Edsmith]

I've never seen any work taking place there either, couldn't a temporary footbridge be put up as happened at nearby Bickley?

 

[30907]

I've never seen any work taking place there either, couldn't a temporary footbridge be put up as happened at nearby Bickley?

The sections of platform beyond the canopies are narrower than at Bickley, and there is a level access route via the road bridge which would add up to two minutes walking time.
Bickley, for those who don't know, has only footbridge access to the platforms.

 

[Kite159]

The sections of platform beyond the canopies are narrower than at Bickley, and there is a level access route via the road bridge which would add up to two minutes walking time.
Bickley, for those who don't know, has only footbridge access to the platforms.

Make it more 5 minutes for anybody not knowing the exact route to take and don't walk super-fast.

 

[30907]

Make it more 5 minutes for anybody not knowing the exact route to take and don't walk super-fast.

I was quoting Googlemaps and the obvious route.

Incidentally, my sister - who complains about the number of trains she has missed coming from Waitrose - confirmed yesterday that work has been going on.

 

[LLivery]

Does anyone know if it'll be painted green like the lovely refurb of the Penge East bridge?

 

[Horizon22]

I’ve noticed that councillors have been talking about this a lot recently - NR dates keep slipping but doesn’t seem to be any decent reasoning.

Work seems to start, stop, restart and then stop again.

 

[IKB]

I’ve noticed that councillors have been talking about this a lot recently - NR dates keep slipping but doesn’t seem to be any decent reasoning.

Work seems to start, stop, restart and then stop again.

When I last saw work being undertaken on the Beckenham footbridge there was a block on the line, with a scaffolding platform in the four foot up to the bridge. I suspect they have to wait for periodic closures Chatham mainline (when other more important infrastructure work is scheduled) to work on the section of bridge over the line. That perhaps explains the slightly stop/start nature of the work.

Devils advocate here - but if you asked passengers along the route if they'd rather lose their train service to Victoria for extra weekends so the Beckenham footbridge could be completed (when an alternative walking route exists) then I suspect the majority would say no.

From what I recall of that particular footbridge the structure is integral to the station buildings on both platforms and access is quite tight. I'm no engineer, but I'm guessing the repair work is piece by piece, rather than craning in completed sections as you might do at a more open location.

 

[Edsmith]

When I last saw work being undertaken on the Beckenham footbridge there was a block on the line, with a scaffolding platform in the four foot up to the bridge. I suspect they have to wait for periodic closures Chatham mainline (when other more important infrastructure work is scheduled) to work on the section of bridge over the line. That perhaps explains the slightly stop/start nature of the work.

Devils advocate here - but if you asked passengers along the route if they'd rather lose their train service to Victoria for extra weekends so the Beckenham footbridge could be completed (when an alternative walking route exists) then I suspect the majority would say no.

From what I recall of that particular footbridge the structure is integral to the station buildings on both platforms and access is quite tight. I'm no engineer, but I'm guessing the repair work is piece by piece, rather than craning in completed sections as you might do at a more open location.

If there were weekend closures to get the job done presumably a service to Victoria could still operate from platform 4 with fast services diverted via Catford and a RRB to Shortlands or Bromley South?

 

[30907]

If there were weekend closures to get the job done presumably a service to Victoria could still operate from platform 4 with fast services diverted via Catford and a RRB to Shortlands or Bromley South?

I'm not sure you could actually - I suspect the worksite would block the "back way" access to P4, and getting to/from the RRB on the Up side forecourt would also be a fair walk (as already noted!). In any case, the route seems to be blocked often enough for other work (says my above-mentioned sister) so opportunity to do the over-track bit will come.