Unless you start doing lots of rebuilding the only place a lift can go on the P2/3 island is right at the southern end in which case you are looking at new overbridge for everything and worth being mindful of thinking about 12 car trains too. In the future P1,3 & 4 will be up platforms and 5, 6, & 7 down platforms
I rather suspect there could be opportunities at the north end. Don’t forget that the far south end has not one but two pedestrian underpasses underneath it. (One within the confines of the station and one which runs outside it.)
It would be best to:
- Extend Platforms 6 and 7 to full 10 coach capacity and bring Platform 7 into use again (a useful holding point in the event of sudden disruption in the East Croydon area and a potential conflict reduction measure for trains leaving the flyover to the north)
- Improve signalling and crossover arrangements so that the Up Fast can access more than one platform from immediately outside the station
- Provide a new lift shaft / waiting area a few metres north of the current end point of the Platforms 4 & 5 island
- Create a walkway from the north end of the Platforms 6 & 7 island and construct a lift in line with the Platforms 4 & 5 island
- Fence off Platform 2 and use the disused northern half of Platform 2 as access to a lift in line with the lifts on 4-7
- Construct a further lift on Platform 1, midway down the platform
- Link said lifts with a new bridge
- Extend canopies to mitigate against long walks in poor weather en route to the new accessible bridge and to allow people to spread out down the platforms
On the other hand the 2016 postcript to the 2015 layout mentioned by hwl in post #4 above suggests P3 might be used for a second up slow platform. That would put that island into more regular use anyway?
I’m not quite sure how extra usage of Platform 3 would preclude use of the redundant Platform 2 as a base for a new lift. You would seriously struggle to use Platform 2 as a reinstated platform without shuffling Platform 1 further west (which could itself seriously impede on the fabric of the station buildings) and then installing a parallel track to the west of the present Up Slow.
At this point you end up with things getting extremely cramped at both ends of the station with the junction layouts (which would be difficult to modify without losing geographical sense, bearing in mind there are already flyovers trying to make the most of it!). You would also struggle to use Platforms 2 and 3 at the same time anyway - the overcrowding could become lethal.
If anything, if Platform 3 sees more usage by itself, a new fence along the Platform 2 edge would prevent people on the crowded platform accidentally falling onto the Up Slow. This could be disastrous.
