A STEP UP FOR SURREY QUAYS

Surrey Quays station is set for a radical transformation over the next three years that will make life easier and more comfortable for ARL colleagues and customers alike.

These major and exciting improvements will increase accessibility and help improve customers’ journeys. A second station entrance to be built on the north side of Lower Road will provide more direct access to a nearby new housing development and the existing shopping centre at Canada Water.

This brand-new entrance will feature a new spacious ticket hall, along with a new gateline that is expected to welcome 60 per cent of customers using the station. This will ease congestion at the busiest times at the existing entrance located on the north side of Lower Road.

There will also be a new customer bridge with stairs leading to platforms, which will provide relief to the existing narrow staircases, as these suffer from congestion at peak times. Step-free access will for the first time be provided to both platforms via two new lifts, helping those who are mobility impaired and parents with pushchairs.

“New lifts will make it more accessible for everyone, and the new entrance will provide better connections with the local area. This work will all support the new homes and jobs being created in Canada Water, helping the area to grow and recover from the pandemic.” - David Rowe, TfL’s Director of Delivery Planning.

Enabling work is expected to start on site this summer, with the main work expected to start by the end of this year and the project completing in 2026.

“The TfL project team has recently appointed Morgan Sindall to deliver the detailed design and construction of the project. Morgan Sindall has appointed Atkins as the designers. There was a site visit facilitated by ARL infrastructure projects and customer experience teams last week to familiarise the newly appointed designers with the station. The construction team will this month set up site compounds at Surrey Quays. There is also work underway to conduct intrusive and non-intrusive surveys on asset systems in possession and closures taking place in February and March. These surveys will enable the detailed design phase of the project to get underway.” - Sofena Choudhury, project manager.

The development of Surrey Quays station is just the beginning for improvements within the route. This project is funded by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities as part of its Housing Infrastructure Programme with a contribution from British Land, the developer of the Canada Water Masterplan Development. This collaboration aims to help unlock 14,000 new homes within the local area. Neal Bailey, customer experience manager added,

“The local management and customer experience frontline team are really excited and keen to see the innovative upcoming enhancement project at Surrey Quays take off. In terms of railway infrastructure, the ELL Core - the train service between Dalston Junction and Surrey Quays - is not very old, but we believe that this project will give the line a well-received uplift. After all who doesn’t like something new! The plans are in line with the growing community and will increase, increasing footfall and traffic that both come through our station and around the local area. We’re hoping that the new infrastructure will also encourage new and old commuters to travel through Surrey Quays as we want to be on the map for all the right reasons.”

“I’m delighted to see the start of the work to improve access to the station. I believe that many of our customers will finally be happy knowing that step-free access is coming. This will undoubtedly make a huge difference to how they choose to travel with a preference for alighting at Surrey Quays. Equally so for our drivers who have a hub here and will welcome the use of a lift.” - Linden Raymond, customer service ambassador.