I've always thought that there should be a fast West Croydon to Clapham Junction, but I suppose now there's the Epsom to London Bridge fasts there's not point. That said Emspom Downs if its going to have more development on it needs a quicker route to London, maybe via Mitcham.
but for 1 stop (Norwood Junction) all the london bridges are fast from west croydon.
it is indeed painful to go via Wallington towards Sutton from Clapham.
Shouldn’t connectivity (ie, more direct stations to Belmont) be a bigger priority than fast trains to London?
Belmont is one of the least used stations in London.
the cancer hub has been at Belmont for several decades.
There is a regular bus service (no step access) from Sutton station, right outside the doors, 2 bus stops directly into the hospital grounds taking 5 minutes.
There is no close bus stop at Belmont, and roughly cobbled street from Belmont station leading to a mainroad and a long hard walk up hill to the hospital… or you can walk down the main road to the nearest bus stop, (same Sutton bus) that will take you into the hosptial.
Unless there planning a horse and cart from Belmont to the hospital this is a waste of time.
I also fail to see where the passenger numbers are coming from, this is not a new hosptial, it is already a world leading cancer hospital already, its just getting some new buildings… I should add those new buildings are actually a lot closer to Sutton on the campus, by the Downsway… not up by Belmont station…
Theres much smoke and mirrors around this. i suspect this is a prelude to TFL taking over the Wallington line, and closing Banstead / Epsom downs.
I should add the old up platform at Banstead still exists, and it is step free… yet a siding is preferred to a second platform at this “hugely busy“ unstaffed station that handles 100k passenger entries and exits a year c 275 people a day, or 3.75 passengers per weekday service (73 workings today).
Don't disagree but having been a regular visitor their escorting a family friend for treatment I can tell you that parking is nigh on impossible during normal working hours and short of them building a multi story they have no solution. So trying to drive modal transfer is a necessity but not sure majority of staff or visitors would use the train without a shuttle bus up from the station which doesn't look that practical.
I don't know much about the local situation in Belmont, but it's in London which generally has good public transport links, so as a matter of principle, I'd be looking at improving bus, train, cycling and walking connections long before I think about building a multi-storey car park.
its a nice pleasant walk from Sutton station, gentle incline and some very nice housing estates (on the hospital side Of the road).
About 15-20 mins walk.
From Belmont, its up hill.
Going south of Belmont… its gods own country.. green fields, golf courses, cycle tracks.. (and a prison hidden behind some trees)… the country side is near continous past redhill and beyond.
The point is also to regenerate the whole Belmont area, as it has very poor public transport and is one of the most impoverished areas in London. Also, some of the money for the project will be devoted for better pedestrian infrastructure for walking to the hospital.
Poor housing ?
you wont get much for under £700k around there, even rightmove starts at £5mn for some houses in that stations catchment.
where do you live if thats considered poor ?
Thats also a good reason why Belmont should really be closed, the 4WD populace has no where to park, they just drive a minute down the road to Sutton station which has a far better service.
This is the station we are talking about, you can see the old platform behind the MPV, the 73 dissappearing beyond the platform end is where the siding will go..
73’s and MPVs.. dont get too excited, its not that often and its the most exciting it ever gets on that branch.
Taken from the road bridge over the end of the platform looking south…the £14mn turn back siding will be to the right here.
