According to organiser Andrea Wood, Network Rail has promised Croydon residents it would build a ticket barrier on top of the staircase on Cherry Orchard Road – to the east of the station – for more than a decade.
Her petition says: “We’ve waited, putting up with considerable inconvenience from all the building at the station and traffic disruption, still having to trudge up Billington Hill to the station, taking far longer than necessary and creating additional stress for people with disabilities, children, buggies, and heavy luggage.
“Passengers will have to make our way up the stairs, funnel through the narrow entrance at the top of the stairs… walk across the bridge to the far side, and then queue with people coming in from the westerly stairs to go through the ticket gate there.
“And if we need platforms 5 and 6, walk all the way back across the bridge to where we started.”
Andrea said residents who enter East Croydon station via Cherry Orchard Road “need and deserve a ticket gate”.
In a visit by YourLocalGuardian to the station, it seems other train passengers feel the same way.
Linda Bawa, a 68-year-old retired secondary school teacher, said access to the train station “needs to be closer, especially for people who are disabled and also for the time it takes to get through”.
She said: “I definitely think they [Network Rail] should be pulling their finger out and getting the gate done.
“But that’s basically like saying ‘no’ isn’t it? That’s no promise.
“If they’ve promised for 10 years and then they’re still saying ‘we haven’t got any plans for it’ that means they’re not going to do it.”
Peter Craddock, 81, who is retired, added: “[A ticket gate on Cherry Orchard Road] sounds like quite a good idea for people who do need it, yeah.
“It probably won’t cost too much to put a machine in there, I wouldn’t have thought, so it sounds like a good idea.”
He said it’s “typical” of British rail companies to promise plans they won’t deliver.
70-year-old retiree Maurice St. Aubyn said Network Rail “should make a decision”, pointing out that West Croydon has ticket barriers on both sides of the station.
“I don’t know why they don’t have the same sort of measures here,” he said.
A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “We’re working with Croydon Council to get the final agreements in place to complete the public part of the footbridge, with a connection to the eastern side to connect with Cherry Orchard Road.
“When complete, this will allow for residents living on the eastern side of the station to reach the platforms (via the gateline at the western end of the footbridge) directly, without needing to walk around via the main station building.
“This roughly halves the journey time for something reaching the platform from the eastern side of the station.
“The public footbridge will also allow for residents to pass freely over the railway between Cherry Orchard Road on the eastern side and Dingwall Road on the western side. This path will be lit and covered by CCTV.
“The route to the platforms via the footbridge and the public route over the railway for local residents will be step-free. Lifts are already installed at either end.
“While still subject to final agreements, we expect this work to finish and the bridge to open by the end of this year.”
