Mitcham Eastfields (initially known as Eastfields during planning and construction) is a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, which opened on 2 June 2008. The station is located at Eastfields Road

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

, in an area previously poorly served by public transport. The nearest station was Mitcham Junction, which along with

Mitcham tram stop Mitcham tram stop is a Tramlink stop in Mitcham in the London Borough of Merton. The stop is located between Belgrave Walk and Mitcham Junction. It is located just east of the former Mitcham railway station, which closed in 1997. The tram s ...

, was over from the district. It is in fare zone 3.

History

Proposals for the station have apparently existed since the 1930s. Planning permission was granted by the London Borough of Merton in August 2007. Construction started in October 2007. Following consultation, there were hopes to have the station open by December 2007. The opening was originally scheduled for 19 May 2008 but that date was subsequently put back because

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

did not feel the station would be ready until early June. The opening was then planned for the morning of Monday 2 June 2008, but in the event it was delayed until the afternoon by safety inspections. It finally opened at 16:00 and the first train called at 16:11.

Design

The station cost £6 million, and was the second station to be built to a modular design developed by

, which is also used at

Corby railway station Corby railway station, owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway, is in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. The current station, opened on 23 February 2009, replaces an earlier one dating from 1879, first closed on 18 April 1966 ...

and

Greenhithe railway station Greenhithe railway station (also known as Greenhithe for Bluewater) serves the village of Greenhithe in north Kent and Bluewater Shopping Centre. It is down the line from . Train services are operated by Southeastern and Thameslink. Design B ...

which was the first to be constructed. The platforms are long, with a building on the up (northbound) platform. Each platform is situated downstream of the

, allowing the crossing to be reopened while trains are stopped at the station, minimising the disruption to road traffic. However this means that passengers must cross Eastfields Road (no controlled crossing at present) if they wish to purchase a ticket on the northbound side and then travel southbound. The footbridge on the southbound side only allows safe movement over the railway and not the road.

Services

Services at Mitcham Eastfields are operated by Southern and

Thameslink Thameslink is a 24-hour main-line route in the British railway system, running from , , , and via central London to Sutton, , , Rainham, , , , and . The network opened as a through service in 1988, with severe overcrowding by 1998, carrying m ...

using and

EMUs Emus may refer to: * Emu The emu () (''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is the second-tallest living bird after its ratite relative the ostrich. It is endemic to Australia where it is the largest native bird and the only extant member of the g ...

. The typical off-peak service in trains per hour is: * 2 tph to * 2 tph to via * 2 tph to * 2 tph to of which 1 continues to During the peak hours, additional services between London Victoria and Epsom also call at the station. On Saturday evenings (after approximately 18:45) and on Sundays, there is no service south of Dorking to Horsham.

Connections

London Buses London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages most bus services in London, England. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of London Regional Transport (LRT) bus se ...

routes 152,

463 Year 463 ( CDLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Basilius and Vivianus (or, less frequently, year 1216 '' Ab urbe ...

and school route

633 __NOTOC__ Year 633 (Roman numerals, DCXXXIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 633 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Dom ...

serve the station.

References

External links

Eastfields station plan
(3.47 MiB)
A photo of the station under construction
from

Railway Gazette International ''Railway Gazette International'' is a monthly business magazine and news website covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by transport p ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitcham Eastfields Railway Station Railway stations in the London Borough of Merton Railway stations opened by Network Rail Railway stations in Great Britain opened in 2008 Railway stations served by Govia Thameslink Railway