This entrance to platform 1 is due to close in the next month.

The closure will delay and inconvenience thousands on their way to work. People with prams or luggage will have to struggle over the footbridge.

For disabled people the prospect is even worse. They will have to ring a bell and wait for a station worker to close the ticket counter and come and open a gate while they wait totally exposed to the wind, rain and cold.

SydSoc's Barry Milton & Tim Lund hand on leaflets

Wind, rain and cold was exactly what the Sydenham Society's leafletteers had to endure on April 30th. The first day of their campaign to petition Southern Rail to reverse its position. The first supply of 500 leaflets was exausted by 8pm. Over a thousand were distributed. This alone suggests Southern Rail has seriously underestimated the use of this entrance.

Most were unaware of the planned closure and expressed horror and amazement.

The change is because Southern Rail will, at long last, be putting in oystercard readers. Good news. The bad news is they will only be placed on Platform 2 (southbound) entrance. Not installing oystercard readers on Platform 1 is purely a money saving exercise that will make public transport less accessible.

If you wish to sign the petition go here:
«http://www.gopetition.com/online/18722.html»
or you can write or email the people listed below.

Tim Lund, the new chair of SydSoc, said:

"We feel that Southern and TfL are putting short term financial considerations and doubtful arguments about revenue loss above passenger convenience and safety. We are aware of the concerns of residents of Peak Hill Gardens, but the right approach must be to work together to manage problems that might arise, and welcome overall improvements to the stantion and Sydenham as a whole."

Some Spring Hill residents have expressed concern that the Platform 1 entrance may cause car traffic problems. However, I stood outside the entrance between 8 and 9am and not one single car was seen to deposit/pick up a passenger even though there was parking space. They are right to complain about litter. Smoking outside the gate gives it a carpet of butt-ends as there is no bin to put them in.

Crossing the footbridge in wind and rain to a crowded exposed largely unsheltered platform is horrible

SydSoc's Press Release

Members of the Sydenham and Forest Hill Societies have learned with dismay that as from June 2008 their local stations will become less accessible to all local passengers.

At a recent meeting attended by Jim Dowd MP, Len Duvall GLA member for Lewisham and Greenwich, and Heidi Alexander, Deputy Mayor for Lewisham, Southern, the South Central train operator, gave notice that it intends to introduce a “pay as you go” gating system along the Sydenham to London Bridge route as a precursor to Transport for London introducing Oyster cards in a year’s time across the London rail network.

The result will be that platforms at both stations will become inaccessible for most of the day to regular users. At Sydenham the gate on the “up” platform (Platform 1) will be permanently locked but available for disabled passengers and mothers with buggies who can push a buzzer, show a valid ticket to a cctv and wait for someone to, remotely, unlock the gate.

At Forest Hill there are plans to close Platform 2 (the Perry Vale side of the tracks) except between 3 pm and 8pm when there will be limited accessibility to customers whose tickets will be checked manually.

Both societies express serious concerns about these plans and are mounting a campaign to demonstrate that Southern’s actions are wholly economically based and have no regard whatsoever to the paying customers’ convenience. The societies are demanding that the gates remain open for passengers’ convenience, and are expressing concerns about Transport for London’s longer-term plans on health and safety grounds.

When the Oyster system is finally introduced the societies insist that on platforms where there are acknowledged strategic reasons why ticket gates cannot be erected, “touch in, touch out” facilities must be provided.

your input is always welcome here

Sydencam