A man from Catford says the improvements to Catford Station over the past year have moved at a “snails’ pace” as National Railway have had to push back the expected completion date.

As part of the Government’s nationwide Railway Access for All Strategy, Catford Station is currently under works and has been since January 2022.

The National Railway website states that works are scheduled for completion by summer 2023, and most of the work takes place from Monday to Friday during daytime hours.

The works include the installation of a link-bridge, two new lifts (with one on each platform) and the installation of new CCTV cameras.

Jeff Kuntz, a resident who lives on St Fillans Road, nearby to the station, says the latest delays to the improvements of the lifts at Catford Station has left a “bad taste in his mouth” as developments have been moving at a “snails’ pace”.

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The 43-year-old told the News Shopper “My wife and I moved to Catford almost ten years ago and I've commuted through that station for years.

“The lifts are long overdue, especially for parents with prams that have to haul their kids up and down those steep stairs.”

The £3.7 million scheme aims to make the station “much easier to use” for passengers with limited mobility, with luggage, bikes, or pushchairs.

Jeff says the “million pound price tag” leaves a “bad taste in his mouth”.

He explained: “Improvements to Catford station over the past few years have moved at a snails' pace and these latest delays to the lifts, along with the whopping multibillion pound price tag that consumers will inevitably pay off in some form, leave a bad taste in my mouth.

“How can two lifts and a couple cameras cost more than two large semi-detached houses?”

The National Railway website states that although the “majority” of the site work has been completed, due to unforeseen mechanical issues with the lifts hydraulics system the expected competition date had to be put back.

A spokesperson for the National Railway added: “The new hydraulics ramps have now been installed.

“We are aiming to complete the works by summer 2023, following testing and commissioning, where the lifts will be open and ready for passengers to use.”