Peckham Rye Station/station accessibility

Rye Lane & Station Action Group October 2009

extract from the minutes: 2.3 Making the station accessible
Ron Terry, from Howard:Fairbairn:MHK, Southern Rail architects, presented the plans for making the station accessible. These were still provisional and as yet no finance had been agreed. But the need to restructure the station internally to make it accessible was now accepted by the rail industry as a priority, and may be secured within the next five years. The main influences on designing the plans were:

• The need to provide ‘step free access’ to all platforms. This was the leading factor in determining the final layouts. The proposal is to relocate the stairs, the ticket gates and the ticket office, and install a lift to platforms 1&2, and a lift each for platform 3 and platform 4.
  
• A desire to improve station facilities. The new stairs and lifts would be accompanied by clearing the existing brick waiting rooms and shelters on all the platforms. These would be replaced with better platform accommodation with glazed screens.
• The local aspirations to recreate the original open square in front, and link it to the rear courtyard. The proposals provide two options for the ticket gate locations, one which would enable the exterior of the front and rear of the station to be linked by relocating the ticket gates to either side of a new ground floor entrance with one set of gates accessing platforms 1&2, and the other for platforms 3&4.
• Two works schemes are being developed - a maximum scheme which would re-install a mezzanine level in the ticket hall and 1st floor accommodation between the rear wings creating much more accommodation, and a minimal scheme without that.
  

Malcolm Woods of English Heritage said that he did not have any particular concerns about the proposals for the station interior which had been presented that evening at the meeting. He said that changes were achievable as long as they were carried out with a degree of care and attention to detail. He also explained that the building's significance would have to be understood better before any decision could be made. He reassured the audience that a document with details of the building's history and development would accompany any application for Listed Building Consent.

In discussion, the following points were made:

• The overall plan project was welcomed as accessibility was urgently needed. Pressure to get the works into the financial timetable needed to be kept up.
• It was welcome that there was an option to enable access from front to rear of the station to link the two spaces, but it was not clear how passengers would navigate separate ticket gates for the two sets of platforms, as they often had to move between the two sets of platforms to catch the first train.
• Some details, for example the siting of the lifts, and the design of the new platform facilities, would need close and early discussion with local groups, in addition to the consultation required for the historic aspects.