For over a year, the Cromwell Road Bus Station has been closed off from the public due to refurbishments taking place to the site; now local residents are starting to wonder why it hasn’t been re-opened.
Since the 28th of August 2023, the major bus station has been closed off by TfL, following this announcement it was said that the station would be re-opened in the summer of 2024.
As the summer continued, some local residents have become accustomed to the closure,
Saanvi Gupta, 15, stated, “the closure of Cromwell was a great disturbance to me at first, but now I have formed a new routine, which completely avoids the bus stop.”
However, as autumn unravels others are becoming skeptical and impatient for the reopening of Cromwell Road Bus Station this autumn.
What went wrong?
TfL has now announced that the delay has been caused by several "unexpected circumstances".
These include their steel subcontractor going into administration, which forced TfL to delay works while they searched for a new steel subcontractor.
Additionally, during excavation, a high-pressure water pipe was found that was not represented on the area plans, meaning that works had to be further delayed while Thames Water carried out additional works to reroute the water pipe.
Regardless of the delays, many local residents are very excited about the reopening of the bus station. Yalana Rameshwaran, 16, stated,
“The bus station will hopefully have so much to offer when it reopens this autumn, with its customer-friendly environment and increased safety measures making it entirely worth the one year wait.”
Despite the problems they have encountered, TfL will be going ahead with their original plans.
The Advantages of the Refurbishment
The refurbishment project of Cromwell Road Bus Station aims to improve the quality of services by constructing: a fully accessible customer information office; improved live information screens; fully accessible toilets and two new retail spaces.
The renovations also aim to make transportation much more accommodating with wondrous new canopies over the customer waiting area.
TfL aims to make transport as simple as a walk in the park, literally!
Aiming to increase its sustainability, TfL has created an urban green canopy edge and installed solar panels that decrease the bus station’s carbon dioxide emissions and act as exquisite natural decoration for the new bus station.
If you have ever taken the bus or train, you would know that it can be impossible to understand any of the announcements made, however, in Kingston’s soon-to-be-reopened bus station, a new PA system has been installed, which promises to be much more efficient.
Moreover, acting upon public concerns, TfL’s new bus station will have improved safety measures such as improved LED lighting and CCTV.
The new and improved Cromwell Road Bus Station in Kingston (despite all the delays and obstacles faced during its construction) will be a much more customer-friendly, sustainable and safer hub of transport due to its current renovation; making it a very exciting prospect for local residents when it opens this autumn!
