Putney Station improvements

I've just received an email from the Area Manager of South West Trains confirming that Putney Station is to get some new cash-and-card ticket machines in March. This is the first of a series of improvements to Putney Station I've been campaigning for as part of my Save Putney High Street campaign.

The state of Putney Station is pretty dreadful; aside from being inaccessible and congested very little has been spent on the station by the operators, SWT, for years, so it has become shabby as well.

I think it was a mistake years ago to let-out so much of the station's floorspace to shops and takeaways - while I'm sure it's a nice little earner for SWT and Network Rail, it has meant that what's left of the station can't cope with rush-hour commuters surging in and out.

That mistake in turn led to another bad decision: to site two of the ticket dispensers outside the station, further congesting a very busy area where several buses stop and where the shops clutter up the pavement by setting out their goods. My Save Putney High Street plan proposed moving the ticket machines back inside and making the news kiosk again face out, which I suspect will also be better for their trade.

Because of the more radical improvements planned for Putney Station I'll write about soon, as well as getting a much needed revamp, there will be sufficient space created to achieve these goals. In the meantime, we'll have to make do with extra ticket vending machines, which is at least a first step in the right direction.