With the opening of the new platform 2 at Abbey Wood station in south-east London this Monday, the station is one step closer to becoming a major hub for Crossrail services in 2018.
The new platform (Felixstowe Road) will serve Kent-bound Southeastern services and is a key part of the overall £130m transformation of the station by Balfour Beatty.
Set to reopen in 2017, the new Abbey Wood station has been dubbed “The Stingray” or “Manta Ray” as from above, the station is shaped like a ray, its zinc-surfaced “wings” extending into canopies sheltering staircases on either side.
The station will include a larger ticket hall and a concourse that leads directly onto a wide forecourt connecting the station to the Harrow Manorway flyover.
Work began on the platform last February and the project was not without its difficulties. Peter Hume, senior programme manager at Network Rail, said: “Groundworks were a big issue, in some places the groundwater level is only 70cm beneath the surface, so we’re dealing with drainage issues which took a lot of work.”
He added: “Proximity issues were also a big factor, as they are at most potential Crossrail stations. Here we have nearly 3,000 residents really close by so that was a challenge as well as working in an operational railway environment where we have to take the railway to bits and put it back together again in no longer than 52 hours, sometimes 27, sometimes less.”
Andy Ring, senior construction manager from Network Rail, added: “Ground conditions are always a challenge as you don’t know what you’re dealing with, particularly in rail. We’re now out of the ground, so fundamentally we’re over that hurdle.
“We’ve still got some adjustments to do in certain areas so there is still a residual risk, but fundamentally the main challenges have been dealt with and we are over the major last hurdle.”
