Grove Park Railway Station 2025-11-26

Opened the debate

I am grateful for this Adjournment debate on the merits of upgrading Grove Park train station, a historical station that has served the local community for 150 years. Originally opened in 1871 to serve rural communities and local farmers, the station helped to kickstart the development of the thriving neighbourhood that we know today. The station has deteriorated and requires significant investment if it is to continue serving the community. It feels grubby and dirty with a makeshift roof along most of the inside walkway, weeds growing inside, no style or pattern to the walls. I have spoken to many local businesses including a hairdressers, nail salon, café, Harris chemist, and Filling Station Café, who all agree that the station needs improvement. The petition calling for an upgrade has over 100 signatures.

Government Response

I start by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby) on securing this important debate. She has made a powerful case for accessibility improvements at Grove Park railway station. I also congratulate her on her campaign, noting the array of small businesses and community organisations that supported it. Building beauty into our railways is incredibly important to me; it should factor more in thinking about how the travelling public can engage with our railways and enjoy the process. This debate underlines the very real concerns of passengers who rely on Grove Park station every day. Accessibility is not an optional extra; it is a basic expectation of modern public transport. That is why we remain committed to delivering improvements through programmes such as Access for All, through our recently published rail accessibility road map and through our long-term reforms to create Great British Railways. The Minister agrees that improving access will increase the number of passengers who use our trains, and it will benefit the environment too. The Minister acknowledged the issue raised by Gurpreet Ahluwalia, highlighting significant investment to improve rail accessibility within her constituency. He mentioned upgrades to nearby Hither Green station due in 2027 and assured that Grove Park will benefit from an LED lighting update on the overbridge and platforms, enhancing security perception and CCTV-recorded images. The Minister also announced £17 million of funding for British Transport police’s access to railway CCTV and reassured her about crime prevention methods and improvements to station amenities through regular inspections by the Department for Transport. Southeastern is implementing a multimillion-pound station improvement programme, with recent deep cleaning at Grove Park to improve customer experience. The Minister reaffirmed the Government's commitment to improving accessibility across the network, supported by major investments in crime prevention, infrastructure upgrades and industry reform through the creation of Great British Railways. He encouraged further collaboration between MPs and transport authorities.