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Denmark Hill Upgrade
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New entrance, footbridge and lifts according to this
https://www.railway-technology.com/news/network-rail-denmark-hill-station-upgrade-works/
apologies - the footbridge and lifts are already there.
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Plenty of detail on the NR website:
www.networkrail.co.uk
Denmark Hill station improvements - Network Rail
Second station entrance and cycle hub at Denmark Hill relieves station crowding and supports more reliable train services. Passenger numbers at the station have tripled in the last fifteen years, causing crowding and congestion at entrances, on walkways and platforms. This means passengers take...
www.networkrail.co.uk
Glad to see something finally arranged, it was believe the most congested station in London based on footfall at peak (in comparison to capacity). Utilising the northern side of the station will be a good plus. Also found the fact that the front was changed to a pub odd but at the time the station was I believe widely regarded to be neglected in the 80s.
DelW
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I first went to Denmark Hill in the 80s, to visit what was then the Phoenix and Firkin, part of Bruce's Brewery's chain of Firkin home-brew pubs. Other than the rumbling of trains below, you'd hardly have known it was a station, few trains stopped and few passengers got on or off them. IIRC access to trains was via a little annexe at the south end of the building, and a walkway along the back of the pub.
I hadn't been back until last year, when I used the station to visit a friend in the nearby King's College hospital. Overground services have made such a difference that it was hard to believe it was the same station as the quiet dusty backwater I remembered.
I went to many of the Firkin pubs in the 1980s, but never to Denmark Hill.
However I changed at Denmark Hill about a year ago, I came from Clapham and changed into a service for Chatham there. I made the mistake of assuming that I needed to cross the footbridge when I did so, and for sure it was inadequate for the late morning rush hour (it was after 09:30) foot traffic at the time. And of course I had to recross the footbridge when I discovered my mistake. A good place to change for the service I wanted, which saved me having to go into Victoria in the first place.
However I changed at Denmark Hill about a year ago, I came from Clapham and changed into a service for Chatham there. I made the mistake of assuming that I needed to cross the footbridge when I did so, and for sure it was inadequate for the late morning rush hour (it was after 09:30) foot traffic at the time. And of course I had to recross the footbridge when I discovered my mistake. A good place to change for the service I wanted, which saved me having to go into Victoria in the first place.
I lived here for a few years between 2012 and 2015 or so. It was mayhem every morning - a lot of folks arriving on buses (much of East Dulwich rail-heads in anyway, but during that time there were a lot of London Bridge works closures too) - plus hospital users and many interchanging people.
In that time, Camberwell and Peckham also became pretty 'hot' areas of London also - so many more folks visiting for bars, restaurants and so forth.
But while being there, in addition to the Overground, the Victoria-Dartford trains were progressively extended in running hours, extra Thameslink services were added, the Dover service was added - and more peak Victoria semi fasts began to call. So rail use really exploded. The entrance was rebuilt with a crappy temporary building and second footbridge - as forget the pub, but even the surviving ticket office was given over to a (decent) coffee shop). It was a bad a bottleneck and the station manager, a lovely exuberant old gent, definitely struggled with the lack of gates and the crowding.
This is long overdue. It's only going to increase if more services run from Victoria to the Dartford lines, and if Overground is increased to 6tph as mentioned. It's something of a hub now. I'd expect (northerly) platform extensions some day too - for 12 car Thameslink services potentially (a turnback would also be useful, South London needs one for Thameslink).
In that time, Camberwell and Peckham also became pretty 'hot' areas of London also - so many more folks visiting for bars, restaurants and so forth.
But while being there, in addition to the Overground, the Victoria-Dartford trains were progressively extended in running hours, extra Thameslink services were added, the Dover service was added - and more peak Victoria semi fasts began to call. So rail use really exploded. The entrance was rebuilt with a crappy temporary building and second footbridge - as forget the pub, but even the surviving ticket office was given over to a (decent) coffee shop). It was a bad a bottleneck and the station manager, a lovely exuberant old gent, definitely struggled with the lack of gates and the crowding.
This is long overdue. It's only going to increase if more services run from Victoria to the Dartford lines, and if Overground is increased to 6tph as mentioned. It's something of a hub now. I'd expect (northerly) platform extensions some day too - for 12 car Thameslink services potentially (a turnback would also be useful, South London needs one for Thameslink).
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