Rebuild of Surrey Quays station well underway for London Overground
Work to construct a seconds entrance, new ticket gates and lifts at Surrey Quays station in Rotherhithe is well underway to cater for thousands of new homes, shops and offices in the area.
New staircases are in place which will feed into another station building located on what is currently a car park near Tesco’s.
Work is due to complete in 2026 and activity is currently focused mainly north of the Lower Road.
This gives an idea of how the station layout should appear upon completion.
A new entrance and ticket hall is under way. Not yet in place but due for installation is a footbridge linking both platforms.
Lifts are also to be added on each platform connecting to both the existing and new entrance.
Growth in area
Nearby Canada Water station has long struggled to cope with passenger numbers and thousands more homes, shops and new office space will place even more pressure.
Surrey Quay’s 1980s-tastic shopping centre will go. Built in an era when London’s population was declining and an attempt to regenerate former docks, it now seems an anomaly comprising vast car parks and low-rise buildings in inner London.
There are future plans to increase frequencies of London Overground services along the line with power upgrades and new trains part of the plan.
Whether a modest increase in capacity at Surrey Quays station is enough remains to be seen.
The current Odeon site will be replaced with a new Tesco superstore beneath new homes. The existing Tesco within the shopping centre will be demolished.
British Land are behind overall plans and when it comes to the specific Odeon plot, 384 new homes will be located there. Plans were approved in October 2023.
You can’t really move in the are currently for ongoing change. Aside from the obvious tower next to Canada Water, Printworks is currently coming down with plans for a replacement just revealed.
Alongside further trains along the line and a new entrance at Surrey Quays, cycleway 4 now offers a direct route from the site to London Bridge.
A future post will look at development around Canada Water station where construction on a number of residential sites is more advanced. You can’t miss the new tower for miles around.
Those new developments in the area are not only those from British Land but see others outside their control now rising.
Surrey Quays didn’t do too badly during the 90s I must say. While it did require taking the 108 to Lewisham bus station (sadly missed, along with the cobblers along the station road), and taking the 225 to get there, it had a fairly useful selection of shops, a cinema and a small but useful food court. I remember going there a few times in the early half of the decade – more affordable than Canary Wharf. Certainly a safer bet than the bizarre experience of the Tobacco Dock outlet and shopping centre (they were even turned down by French Connection, who decided to stay out by Hancock Road in the wilds of Bow)
Nice to see Surrey Quays station to be re-modernised. Maybe TfL should open a new station at Surrey Canal Road. Close to Millwall FC The Den stadium at Bermondsey since the East London Line was extended to Clapham Junction via Peckham Rye.