New Deptford Station opens

Deptford's new railway station opened to the public this afternoon and although the station project is still far from finished, with more canopy still to erect and the old buildings to demolish, I am confident that many regular users will be delighted with the new station. For a start, it doesn't smell of urine, a common complaint about the old station although oddly not one I ever had to make. Granted it didn't smell good and was often decorated with several days' rubbish, but even my sensitive nostrils rarely detected the whiff of wee. But I digress.

The temporary corridor to the station is unlikely to win many fans, being quite narrow and hence annoying when you are sharing it with a crowd, whichever direction you're headed in.

Dip in under the glass facade and you're in a lovely (comparatively) spacious ticket office area surrounded by brick, glass and steel, shiny new signs, noticeboards so far bereft of any posters, and a train announcement board that shows what you need to know at one glance (rather than the old TV screen at which you'd sometimes have to wait several minutes before it ticked round to the screen with the information you required).

One major disappointment so far - still only one ticket machine! I do hope that this is rectified soon, perhaps the one in the old station entrance is still there and they will be relocating it to the other side of the ticket office in due course? (can you hear the hope in my voice?). In fact I'm told by an authoritative source that the ducts are in place to enable a ticket machine to be fitted on platform one next to the lift, but it probably won't be installed until the carriage ramp development is finished (and someone else's arm has been twisted to pay for it.. is what I read into that!) But never mind the ticket machines - what's that I see in the distance? A lift! Yes folks, new lifts to each platform will surely be one of the most significant improvements for Deptford Station. People with pushchairs and prams, bikes, those in wheelchairs and anyone who has difficulty climbing stairs will no doubt be delighted that the station is at long last properly accessible.

So from the ticket office turn left to climb the stairs (or take the lift) for London-bound trains. The stairs aren't as forbidding as those in the old station - they are broken into shorter flights - but you've still got to get to the same height so it's still an effort I'm afraid. Think of it as your morning workout. Or come a bit earlier and take the lift.

Turn right for Dartford-bound trains and you get the full joy of the tunnel (which most people will experience from the other end, coming home from town). The newly-revealed brickwork is lovely and I do hope that I never tire of it. It makes the station reminiscent of those opened recently on the new part of the East London Line, even if the overall quality of the finishes doesn't quite live up to it. I'm not really sure why they put a barrier down the middle of the tunnel, as the flow of passengers is likely to be in one direction or the other, and anyway who takes any notice of those barriers even in busy underground stations?!

At the far end of the tunnel you ascend on several flights of stairs wrapped around the lift shaft and enclosed by some rather strange steel mesh which goes to the full height of the canopy of the lift shaft. I'm not really sure of the purpose of this mesh, but it's no doubt going to catch every slip of litter, every pigeon feather and every fag end and in due course will metamorphose into some kind of bizarre upcycled litter artwork. Let's hope they've got a giant vacuum cleaner tucked away to keep that mesh nice and clean.

The presence of the roller shutter next to the top of the carriage ramp is reassuring, given that I heard not too long ago that the council and Network Rail had still failed to agree on access from the top of the carriage ramp.

Like I said - a lift to each platform - and a nice touch that both have little seats next to them.

Plenty of security cameras (far left of the picture) and if they actually record footage or are linked to some kind of monitoring HQ, we're cooking with gas or at least have a gas supply that's hooked up and ready to go.

And finally, we have seats once again. Enjoy your morning commute folks, feel free to leave your comments below.