A new entrance has opened on the northbound platform at Imperial Wharf station in Chelsea Harbour to help reduce overcrowding on the narrow staircase that leads to the existing entrance.
The station, which opened in 2009, is built up on a railway viaduct, with two entrances on either side leading to stairs and a lift to the platforms.
There was also an emergency path leading down a slope, and this has been repurposed into a new public entrance, with new stairs down from the platform leading to a covered walkway that leads to the new entrance and ticket barriers. The new long covered passageway is reminiscent of The Worm, a covered walkway at Great Malvern station that linked the station to the local Imperial Hotel.
The aim of the new entrance is to reduce congestion on the existing staircase, and also by spreading passengers along the platform, it reduces crowding at the staircase end of the station. At street level, there’s a new separate entrance with ticket barriers, although that’s being kept closed at weekends, as there aren’t the passenger numbers needed to open it. Although most of the new route is along a covered slope, as there’s a staircase at the platform end, it’s not step-free. The existing lift provides step-free access.
The £1.7m upgrade was funded by the Department for Transport and unveiled by Network Rail, Transport for London (TfL) and Arriva Rail London, who operate the London Overground on TfL’s behalf.
The station is served by both London Overground and Southern trains.
Although the station sits in an area known as Chelsea Harbour, legislatively, it’s actually in Hammersmith and Fulham Council, not Kensington and Chelsea.