Funding has been secured to double the number of trains running between Sutton and Belmont, where a major centre for treating cancer is being developed.
The £14.12 million funding package is part of the Levelling Up funding that was announced today.
Track layout over Google Map
Along with more trains, Belmont station will also be improved with step-free access, better wayfinding signage and new walking and cycling routes to the London Cancer Hub, which is about a 10-minute walk from the railway station. A shuttle bus also links the cancer site and the railway for patients to use.
Apart from needing capacity for the London Cancer Hub, in terms of levelling up, the nearby Shanklin housing estate is in the top 20% of deprived areas in the country. The lack of reliable public transport is a known factor in making it harder for people to commute to work and hence lift their own income levels.
The line from Sutton to Belmont also runs south to Epsom Downs mostly as a single-track railway, which restricts how many trains can run along the line. A previous £32 million proposal to double-track the railway all the way between Sutton and Belmont and build a turnback siding to allow up to six trains per hour failed to secure funding, so Sutton council reapplied with a cheaper scheme.
Although the new scheme doesn’t restore the double-track to the railway, it does cover the cost of building a turnback siding just to the south of Belmont station. That delivers enough space along the line to be able to handle four trains per hour between Belmont and Sutton.
In effect, they’ve split the planned upgrade into two phases.
This first phase builds the turnback siding to allow four trains per hour. If demand rises to levels that require it, then they could, in theory, apply for funding to double-track the railway and increase the number of trains per hour on the line to six per hour.
Along with offering more trains an hour between Belmont and Sutton, the turnback siding will also enable additional direct services between Belmont and London Victoria to be added.
There is also an unrelated plan to extend tram services to Sutton, and potentially further south to Belmont, but at the moment, TfL doesn’t have any money to pay for the first stage, let alone the extension.
Dear Sirs
Will the new double track extend to Banstead and Epsom Downs
There won’t be any double-track at all.
I take it it’s just a case of the Sutton terminators being extended, rather than an extra path or two to Victoria being squeezed in?
Which makes me wonder about this, because at the moment the Vic-Selhurst-Suttons are peak only, thanks to the DFT’s off peak cuts.
10 minute walk? I really doubt it. Good for staff but way too far for sick people. It’s the bus service that needs ramping up as it goes directly into the estate. Of course this would not be so urgently required if ulez were not butting on to this major hospital
Hello, would this increase the frequency of trains south of Belmont, in Banstead as well? Or does this just apply to Belmont station.
Many thanks,
Declan
Appears to be Belmont only, rather than doing the sensible thing, which is a very British approach to railways 🙄
When is construction of the turnback siding going to start and when will it be completed?