Unblocking the bottleneck Background

Network Rail is upgrading the Main Line – one of the busiest and most congested routes in the country – to provide more reliable, faster and frequent services on the and its branches.

Key to the upgrade are major proposals to remove the most challenging bottleneck on Britain’s railway network at the ‘ triangle’ and - the East Croydon to Selhurst Junction Capacity Enhancement Scheme (the Scheme). We are now speaking with passengers and the public about our proposals for this Scheme and would like to hear your views.

The Croydon bottleneck

Every weekday, more than 1,700 trains Trains per day – a comparison carrying 300,000 passengers from the Brighton Main Line and its branch lines Total converge on East Croydon station and Location weekday the ‘Selhurst triangle’, a series of junctions trains between East Croydon, Selhurst and Croydon (Selhurst triangle) 1,720 Norwood Junction stations – which funnel trains to and from Victoria, Manchester Piccadilly station 1,249 London Bridge and beyond – making the Reading station 1,027 Croydon area one of the busiest parts of Britain’s rail network. Paddington station 834 Euston station 752 Because of the density of junctions in the King’s Cross station 590 area – more than anywhere else on the national network – trains often have to wait at red signals leading to congestion, delays and unreliable services. Performance impact

The Croydon bottleneck magnifies the impact of even the most minor incident or delay along the line, making it much harder to get trains back on time when things go wrong.

This is why passengers on the Brighton Main Line experience 60% more +60% knock-on delays when an incident occurs compared to the South West Main Line, which has similar passenger numbers and service frequencies.

Brighton Main Line South West Main Line

The capacity problem

The passenger numbers on the Brighton Main Line have more than doubled since the year 2000 with trains on this part of the network regularly featuring in lists of the nation’s most crowded services.

The Croydon bottleneck means that there is no capacity to run more trains to cope with forecast growth in demand on the line, leading to even more overcrowding in the years ahead unless action is taken. 90 75 45

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Uckfield To , To Newhaven, & Seaford & Please note: this map is not Brighton to scale. Transport & Works Act Order (TWAO)

Our Scheme proposals for removing on our proposals for the Scheme. Your the Croydon bottleneck require work to feedback submitted will help inform us in take place outside the railway boundary. developing our Scheme proposals which Where we are proposing to use land or we will then seek permission to deliver build outside of the railway boundary, through a TWAO application. we must prepare an application for a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) Where works required for the from the Secretary of State for Transport. wider CARS, including works at Norwood If permission is given we would have the Junction station, will be constructed necessary powers to undertake the work. within the railway boundary, these works would be constructed by Network We are now consulting with the public, Rail under ’s permitted stakeholders and the wider rail industry development rights.

Managing the impacts of our work

While our Scheme proposals for unblocking the Croydon bottleneck and upgrading the railway within the Croydon area are at a very early stage, we are committed to working with passengers, businesses and residents to ensure any disruption from our work is kept to a minimum.

We will be undertaking a detailed Environmental Impact Assessment of our Scheme proposals. The findings of this assessment will be presented in an Environmental Statement, which will form part of the TWAO application. Our proposals

To unblock the Croydon bottleneck and provide more reliable, faster and frequent services we are developing proposals for the Scheme to provide:

An expanded and enhanced East Croydon station:

A rebuilt station with two additional platforms, a larger concourse with improved facilities for passengers and better connections with the town centre and other transport links to support the ongoing regeneration of central Croydon. These new station works would also be designed to allow for the potential future construction of new offices and homes above the new station.

‘Selhurst triangle’ remodelling:

We would improve track layouts north of East Croydon station and remodel the junctions at the ‘Selhurst triangle’, by removing the existing junctions and building new flyovers and dive-unders.

Lower Road/Windmill Bridge reconstruction:

To provide for more platforms at East Croydon station and the reconfiguration of the ‘Selhurst triangle’ junctions we would need to expand the railway from five to seven tracks north of East Croydon station. This would require the current bridge over the railway to be rebuilt to provide space for the two additional tracks.

Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme (CARS):

Our proposals for the Scheme would support planned works to the existing railway which form part of our wider project. CARS includes works at Norwood Junction station to reconfigure the tracks to enable more trains to run, increase station capacity and provide step-free access to all platforms at the station. What are the benefits?

More reliable journeys A boost to the regional and national economy Improving track layouts and remodelling the junctions at the ‘Selhurst triangle’ As the main route connecting the capital and constructing two new tracks and with and the south coast, two new platforms at East Croydon improving the Brighton Main Line station would remove the current will provide a significant boost to the Croydon bottleneck, which causes daily regional and national economy. delays and disruption, and so improve the punctuality of the service. An expanded and enhanced East Croydon station Faster journeys We would provide greatly increased More tracks and remodelled junctions concourse space, new entrances and also mean we would be able to speed up transform passenger facilities with the some services through the area. possibility of future development above the new station. More services Wider CARS benefits Once we deliver our Scheme proposals to unblock the Croydon bottleneck to Delivery of step-free access and platform improve the reliability of existing services, layout improvements at Norwood we would then be able to consider Junction station. working with train operators on the running of more services to meet the forecast growth in demand.

More trains and Station Supporting regional faster journeys improvements and national economy Proposed project timeline

November/December 2018 Mid 2020 2023 Works starts Initial public engagement Submission of subject to TWAO Transport and and funding Works Act Order application

2018 2030

Early 2020 Communicating our final proposals 2022 Spring 2019 Decision from Public consultation Secretary of State

Have your say

We want your feedback to help us develop the detail of our Scheme proposals in preparation for a TWAO application. You can submit your feedback by sending in our freepost feedback form, taking our online survey at networkrail.co.uk/croydon

or by emailing [email protected]

For further information you can also call Network Rail’s National Helpline on 03457 11 41 41

or follow us @NetworkRailSE

Consultation is open from 5 November to 17 December 2018. Fill out the form below, fold in half and glue together, then send back to us using Freepost.

1) Do you agree with Network Rail’s plans for its Scheme to Network Rail will consider all feedback submitted via this consultation improve services on the Brighton Main Line around Croydon? and confirm your personal data is not required unless you are content for Network Rail to be able to identify you as the source and the location of the [ ] Strongly Agree feedback provided. [ ] Agree Any feedback provided will be collected and held solely by Network [ ] Undecided Rail in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations. It will be used by Network Rail solely for purposes and [ ] Disagree duration in connection with the development of the design and securing any consent application, including publication of the final consultation report, as [ ] Strongly Disagree may be required, for the Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme.

If you wish to be contacted by Network Rail with further information 2) How could the plans be improved? regarding the Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme please tick here: [ ]

If you wish to be contacted by Network Rail to discuss the feedback you have provided on the Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme then please tick here: [ ]

Please confirm by providing your details in the space provided below:- NAME

3) Do you have any further comments on the proposals? ADDRESS

POSTCODE

EMAIL

For further information on how Network Rail holds and uses personal data please refer to the Croydon Area Remodelling Scheme Privacy notice at https://www.networkrail.co.uk/Croydon

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