London Overground station expansion at Surrey Quays sees progress
Work to expand Surrey Quays station on the London Overground has taken some steps forward in recent months in advance of a summer 2026 opening.
With thousands of homes and shops on the way nearby with the shopping centre redevelopment the existing station has been deemed too small to cope with increased passenger numbers.
Being marooned within a one-way system with narrow pavements on some sides of the station structure, that’s certainly a fair assessment.
Now a new entrance/exit is being built to the north of Lower Road beside what is currently Surrey Quay’s shopping centre car park.
A new gateline will also be installed with a footbridge spanning tracks installed earlier this year.
Liftshafts have also been installed to enhance step-free access. Poking my head around and it was just about possible to take this image of the new bridge across tracks through the wire mesh fencing.
Lower Roads is on the left and the shopping centre to the right in the above view.
So far most new construction has been centred close to Canada Water station though that will change.
Shopping centre redevelopment
Tesco will move to a mixed-use site where the Odeon cinema formerly stood as part of a 400-home plot.
That then enables the shopping centre redevelopment to commence with thousands more homes on both the centre and its adjacent car park.
In the meantime a new, temporary food court recently opened on site. A 2,000-capacity music venue is also located within the structure.
A separate plot north of the dock has recently seen approval for more housing and commercial space.
A recently revised masterplan by British Land for the entire site seeks to increase building heights at towers beside the new station building.
Improved services
Improvements to the Windrush line on London Overground aren’t just limited to an expanded station at Surrey Quays.
Service frequency improvements are on the way including the core stretch running through Surrey Quays. Back in 2023 Transport for London stated: “We also started work in June to enhance our signalling and traction power systems to enable us to run 18 trains per hour on this section of the railway by 2025, and then 20 trains per hour beyond that to ensure we continue to meet the growing demand”.
According to a recent Freedom of Information request that’s now been pushed back with TfL responding “This enhancement is currently expected to be introduced in December 2026”.
To enable that uplift, power upgrades have been required for this stretch of line.
Funding for wider London Overground’s improvement works came in part from the last government’s Housing Infrastructure Programme (which also helped fund new DLR stock) with a contribution of more than £33 million from developer British Land.
Canada Water
Over near Canada Water station the “Founding” tower is now as good as complete.
Next door a leisure centre has been built and expected to open in coming months.
Such a good redevelopment here – the area is crying out to be developed – it’s just unfortunately moving at a slow pace. The Founding and leisure centre are good quality and the landscaping/bridge is awesome – the new Corner Corner venue is thriving and clearly the area needs more nightlife, bars and restaurants.
I’ll have to wander out there and see for myself because I can’t get a sense of this from the write up or photos.
What about plans for a new London Overground “Windrush Line” station in Bermondsey to be built and located very near to Millwall FC “The Den” stadium on Surrey Canal Road.
Has Surrey Quays station been updated and upgraded many times since it was rebuilt when the London Overground took over the East London Line in 2010. And was renamed as the Windrush Line late last year.
What about building a new station that would serve Millwall FC “The Den” stadium close on Surrey Canal Road in Bermondsey. Since the section between Surrey Quays and Queens Road Peckham was built.
That was part of the East London Line “Windrush Line” extension to Clapham Junction via Denmark Hill. And perhaps name a new station as Surrey Canal Road or West Bermondsey once the new station is built.
@Andrew Gwilt and @Anomynous: a Surrey Canal station was contingent on redevelopment of Millwall’s “The Den” that remains years’ ahead. However, in response to a ‘freedom of information’ request, TfL says:
‘We have successfully secured a £25m contribution from a local developer, Renewal Group, but there still remains a funding gap on the programme. We will continue to work closely with government, the London Borough of Lewisham and developers/third parties about the potential for additional funding to support the new station at Surrey Canal Road and associated resilience measures to enable a frequency increase to 20 trains per hour on the line.’
I still think that a new Overground station should be built in Bermondsey on Surrey Canal Road close to Millwall “The Den” stadium. And to help relieve most of the pressure of Surrey Quays station on the London Overground Windrush Line before and after football matchdays at Millwall.
And South Bermondsey station that is served only by Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway). Plus South Bermondsey station isn’t step-free and is the closest station to Millwall FC stadium.