Earlier this summer we recommenced our petition for step-free access at Platform 6 at Upminster station.
Upminster Station has step-free access to the platform for the C2C services and District Line services, however access to platform 6 for the London Overground Upminster-Romford line is via stairs. This platform is the only platform within the Upminster Station not to have step-free access and is also the only station on the service not to have step-free access.
The London Overground Upminster-Romford service acts as a vital link between C2C services between Upminster and Shoeburyness with the TfL Rail service that will soon become Crossrail, travelling through central London to Heathrow Airport.
This would be especially valuable for those with cases who want to get to Heathrow on Crossrail or older people, parents with buggies and disabled people who want to go to work, shop or socialise in Romford.
Unfortunately, we were not successful in our bid for Government Access for All funds to support the scheme in November last year. We recommenced our petition earlier this summer after a further round of funding was announced and C2C indicated that they would be looking to put forward a new funding bid, which can only be submitted by train operating companies. Regrettably, shortly before the deadline for applications, we were notified that the scheme would not be eligible for inclusion for this year’s funding round due to the costs to install the necessary infrastructure.
However, for the reasons outlined at the start of this article, we consider that the scheme is still vital to the local transport network and in ensuring that all Upminster residents may easily access Crossrail services once they are available. We are extremely grateful to all those who took the time to stop and sign our petition at the station, as well as those that signed online. Now that we have over 1,000 signatories, we will be presenting a copy of the petition to Transport Ministers seeking further consideration of funding for this scheme and for the expansion of future funding rounds. Our petition will remain open during this time and we will update constituents on responses from Ministers in due course.
Team Lopez
