Work on a new Lewisham station entrance continues

Lewisham station. Existing entrance and exit barriers on right near platform 1

Work by Network Rail to alter a gate line at Lewisham station to benefit Southeasatern passengers continues following work starting back in February.

The current barriers on Platform 1 are to be moved from a spot just off the platform to a new spot at the station’s main frontage. It’s current location leads to congestion and passengers use the limited number of barriers near the platform.

Platform 1 is closet to a number of recently built new housing developments and future blocks at Lewisham retail park.

Sports Direct have just vacated their unit in advance of another major development.

Amro are proposing 1,452 new Build to Rent, Co-living and Purpose Built Student Accommodation homes on site.

A separate recent new build tower on that side of the station is the Vita student block which was built with provision for a new station entrance to Lewisham. However it was never fitted-out.

The currently work appears to be a more budget-friendly option.

It’s perhaps unlikely to ever be fitted-out unless the Bakerloo extension is built – and funding for that seems as far away as ever.

Other enhancements

As for any work on reopening an entrance the other side of the station on platform 4? That remains unfunded.

Again we’ve seen plenty of new homes on that side recently built yet the old entrance to platform 4 was shut for good forcing everyone to walk around to the station’s congested main entrance.

The chances of reopening the former entrance are next-to-none given limited space for ticket gates so a new entrance beside the existing lift, stairs and subway built as part of the 1999 DLR extension is the obvious choice.

It’d require the removal of a non-load bearing wall and shouldn’t be particularly taxing job.

Trouble is as ever no one is funding it to the required level despite ample development.

Perhaps that will change when yet more towers are built on the Tesco supermarket site next door.

Shopping centre redevelopment

Further increased demand for the station will come when Lewisham shopping centre is redeveloped. Shops have already started to depart one end of Lewisham High Street in advance of the initial phase.

Finally there’s also Lewisham Gateway phase two. Residents had started to move in last year before a flood forced them all out. It should start to become occupied once more later this year with shops and a cinema also opening on site.

In the context of these various schemes work on platform 1 will help overcrowding around platform level but appears somewhat of a short-term fix undertaken on a limited budget.

Failure to invest

It could be argued Lewisham Council haven’t been on the ball with this for many years, as few of these project are new. Lewisham Gateway was being drawn up twenty years ago with the authority playing a key role.

The retail park site which could finally commence next year has too been drawn up for more than a decade, and still there’s no confirmed funds for Lewisham station beyond some relatively minor tinkering.

It hasn’t helped that Lewisham – like neighboring Greenwich – took so long to revise low Community Infrastructure Levy rates which many authorities use for transport improvements. Lewisham’s current rates date all the way back to a 2013 decision. They commenced a revision process in 2018, then halted it, only resuming in 2025 ensuring more than a decade of rates someway below much of London.

Now any new development may bring in less CIL revenue for transport improvements as Mayor Sadiq Khan and the Housing Minister have agreed on a cut to payable CIL rates from developers across the capital.

As for the work currently underway at Lewisham station, it was supposed to finish this month but the month is running out and unless there’s a sudden speed up it’s looking unlikely.