Saturday 14 March 2009

South Croydon Cycle and Ride?

A nice new cycle parking shelter has been installed at South Croydon Station.




It is in a prominent position at the entrance to the car park, a deterrent to bike thieves, and has capacity for 8 - 16 cycles. The design is bright and modern, and of a quality you might expect in the Netherlands, so maximum points on this one.



However, I have yet to see a single bike parked here. The surrounding road network is pretty dreadful, access to the station by bike is not easy, so sadly cannot imagine this well designed facility getting much use.

Satellite Image - pre-instalation

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2 comments:

Jim Bush said...

Another problem is that South Croydon is a pretty useless station. People tend to go to EAST Croydon station because it is easier to get to/from with trams and buses stopping outside, easier to get to/from the trains and there are more trains going to more places than at South Croydon !

Unknown said...

South Croydon Station has an excellent service mainly because it is where the long Uckfield/East Grinstead branch-lines join the main London to Brighton line.

It is especially good in the rush-hour as many commuters will alight at the next station (East Croydon) to change trains for Victoria or London Bridge, often leaving seats or space available for those who get on at South Croydon.

Use of it and access to it could be seriously improved by re-opening the old staircase entrance onto Croham Road from platforms 4 and 5 and/or by adding staircases (with associated lifts) from the footbridge at the north end of the station. Both would connect better with the 64 and Metrobus bus routes. Purley Station (and its use I expect) has recently been transformed by such improvements.

Given the size of the site, the potential for improvements at South Croydon is almost limitless.

I cycle to the station most days and use the excellent new covered cycle parking. Sadly it is under-used as not enough is done to improve the cycle routes and cycle experience TO the station, most notably down the notoriously crowded and narrow Selsdon Road.