Saturday, March 03, 2007

Eastfield Station gets the go ahead at last!

Delighted that Eastfields Station looks like going ahead at last(it has taken 70 years!) and maybe opened by next year if Network Rail delivers on its promises. The opening of the station will be a massive economic boost to the area along with assisting considerably in the regeneration of the area and provide much needed access to a train station in an area of very poor public transport.

For many years we've been campaigning for this station and at last it looks like our wish will be fulfilled. Considerable credit also needs to be given to Siobhain McDonagh and Leader of the Merton Labour group Andrew Judge who have been instrumental in pushing the case for a station at Eastfields.

I enclose the news article from the Wimbledon Guardian.


Station to be open by 2008
By Diana Pilkington
Comment
Mitcham residents could have the use of a new mainline station at Eastfields by the end of the year.

Network Rail has confirmed it will fund and build the long-awaited station, which has been talked of since the 1930s.

Subject to planning permission, the station's easy-to-build design means it could be operational by as early as December this year.

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A spokesman for Network Rail said: "It will have a modular design which means it can be delivered very quickly - it will take just a couple of months to build and new components can be picked up from the depot and just slotted in. Mitcham has been selected as the first place to have this new type of station."

Constructed from metal, the station is set to be environmentally sustainable and will use renewable energy sources.

It will provide a direct service to Victoria in 20 minutes and will be closer to Mitcham town centre than the existing Mitcham Junction station and Mitcham tram stop.

Councillor Andrew Judge, who met with Network Rail on Tuesday, said: "This is a locomotive for regeneration in Mitcham. It's the news we've been waiting for after many years of lobbying."

A spokesman for Siobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitcham and Morden, said: "Once the station is built, it will mean the 70-year battle to get this station has been won."

The name of the station is yet to be confirmed, but possible contenders are Eastfields and Mitcham Town.

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