Greenwich station to see heritage colour scheme in restoration project
A project to restore historic features at Greenwich station has seen further details submitted which show a new colour scheme will be applied.
Work has begun to renovate and replace certain features at the listed station and the new application states:
“Following further review with various stakeholders, including the Railway Heritage Trust, the project is proposing to amend the colour scheme previously approved to a heritage style colour scheme.”
The initial application for work didn’t mention any change to the station’s colour scheme unlike an application for Blackheath station where heritage work is ongoing.
Green and cream is also now set to be introduced at Greenwich station.
As at Blackheath the daggerboards along platform canopies will also be renovated and restored.
It should be noted much of the station is far newer and will not see the colour scheme.
Greenwich station was constructed in 1840 and saw DLR services begin the call upon the opening of an extension from island gardens to Lewisham in 1999 which resulted in alterations at the western end.
The station is set to see a boost in passenger numbers this year with Cutty Sark closing this weekend for up to a year to replace all four escalators.
New homes are also currently on the rise at Saxon Wharf a short distance away.
Meanwhile a student tower has been approved just north of that site while another student block was deferred by Greenwich Council’s Planning Board this past week.
Service levels
In recent years the station saw severe gaps in service levels after cuts pushed from central government via the Department for Transport. From a six train per hour service at ten minute intervals in the 2010s the station service had declined after 2022 seeing two trains cut and gaps extend to 27 minutes between remaining services.
That contributed to passenger journeys dropping from 3.8m to 2.1m between 2019 and 2023/24. The DLR however increased from 4.9m to 5.3m between 2019 and 2023 as TfL maintained service frequencies.
Recently we’ve seen an improvement as peak time services on Southeastern and Thameslink went to six trains per hour but only during the peaks. Off peak has seen better spacing of the remaining four trains per hour ensuring gaps of 27 minutes are reduced – but it’s still fewer trains than seen for most of the past 20-30 years.
At just eight minutes to London Bridge and less than 15 to the City of London the station is certainly appealing time wise if service levels are good enough.
I really don’t understand why the cut two Southeastern trains per hour havn’t been restored yet full time. The service through Greenwich is now half reliant on Thameslink who have many cancellations. It’s clear to see judging by those journey numbers that service reductions drive people away and retaining levels ensures growth. Cutting those two trains every hour also hampers journeys further down the line at Abbey Wood between the Elizabeth line and Kent’s new housing as you covered yesterday. Surely those in charge realise it’s a fools errand to go for short term “savings” but cutting two trains an hour when it just pushes passengers and revenue away hampering not only services through Greenwich but SouthEast London and Kent?
I like the idea of the ‘Heritage’ colour scheme as it is good to recognise its status given the importance in terms of history and tourism generation etc. However, I live in that development you show to the side of the Station and I have a big bug-bear re’ tourism. No, I’m not gonna say I am opposed to it. It’s very welcome! My issue is that I am often stopped by lost tourists asking for directions to the Town Centre/Cutty Sark/Greenwich Park/The Meridian Line/Where to catch the Train to the O2 (That’s always an interesting one…) Basically, when they embark from trains out of Central London and simply go down the stairs/ramp there is nothing but flats and dead ends. There’s PLENTY of bare wall space on the platform; along with space at the flats exit side to put up snazzy area maps and proper signage. Maybe an interactive board?
Yeah but they should ave signs in other lingos ere like french n german, muss be ard work for tourists tryin to find their way rahnd our gaff n the Observatory nahadays n iss abahrt time we elped them comin from overseas to stay over ere on ere.
No, they should learn English, as should you.