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Monday 25 Jan 2021

£4m Step-Free access work starting at St Mary Cray Station

Region & Route:

Southern: Kent

| Southern

Passengers, especially those with mobility issues, using St Mary Cray station in Kent will soon benefit from a £4m scheme to make access easier and more convenient.

Two new easy-access lifts are being installed and accessibility features are being installed inside and outside the station building.

The work being funded by the Department for Transport’s ‘Access for All’ programme will make the station much easier to use for passengers with mobility issues, older people and parents with young children.

The large lifts each have the capacity for 16 people and are the ‘through’ type with exits at each end to make accessing them as easy as possible.

Other parts of the station will be improved with work including improvements to the ticket office and relocation of a retail unit into the old taxi office to create more space for the new lift shaft. New handrails and tactile surfacing will be installed on the existing platform staircases.

On the exterior of the station, all staircases will be upgraded as well with new access ramps for the Furzehill Square side of the station, while new chicane handrails will be introduced to the Sayes Court Road entrance to safely slow users down before they emerge onto the footway. There will also be improved cycle shelters and two new blue badge holder parking bays.

Paul Harwood, Network Rail’s Investment Director for Southern Region, said: “The 'Access for All' programme enables a significant investment in our stations in Kent and the wider Southern Region which will help all our passengers and especially those with mobility issues. 

“St Mary Cray will have modern step-free access to its platforms for the first time and dozens of other measures throughout the station will make access much easier for all passengers.”

Both Network Rail and the train operating company Southeastern will engage and work with passengers to communicate progress throughout the works.

Matt Hawken, Southeastern station manager for St Mary Cray, said: “At Southeastern we are committed to providing a safe and comfortable journey for everyone.

“A key part of that is how easily people can get around our stations and on or off the trains.

“This work at St Mary Cray means that another one of our stations will have step-free access. It does make a real difference to disabled people and those with heavy luggage or prams.”

The work will begin on the 15 February 2021 and is due to be completed by the end of the Autumn.

Most of the work will take place between Monday to Friday and during daytime hours from 07:30–18:00, however, there may be some occasions where work will have to be carried out overnight, for example, to lift materials in over the railway line, or during weekends when the trains are not running.

Network Rail and its contractor, BAM Nuttall, will ensure measures are in place to minimise the impact of the improvement works on the passengers, railway operation and our local neighbours.