From the South London Press:

http://www.southlondonpress.co.uk/tn...exit%20closure

THOUSANDS of commuters will be inconvenienced by a proposed station
exit closure, it is claimed.

The way out on Lewisham station’s platform four lets travellers leave
without having to go through the main concourse.

But Southeastern trains is consulting on plans to close the station’s
second exit, which is on its north side.

Platform four users would be left having to use five flights of steps
and a subway to get out of the station.

Tony Aldous, of Eliot Hill, Lewisham, regularly gets off the train at
the platform.

He said: “It’s the most convenient exit for people living north of the
station.

"Thousands of travellers will have to take a long detour.

“It would cause real inconvenience – Lewisham is easily a big enough
and busy enough station to have two exits.

“The consultation process has been chaotic as they haven’t said what
they would put in its place.”

The changes are designed to cut fare dodging and come ahead of new
ticket gates being installed.

Politicians in the borough have started a campaign to challenge
Southeastern’s proposal.

Lewisham Mayor Sir Steve Bullock and deputy mayor Heidi Alexander were
at the station on Friday collecting petition signatures against the
exit closure.

Councillor Alexander said: “Southeastern are carrying out a lot of
really good work at Lewisham.

“But they need to realise that a seemingly small change like this can
have a big impact on thousands of people’s journeys.”

Southeastern has been forced to extend its consultation process about
the project until June 22 amid the criticism.

A spokesman said the exit closure was being considered as there was
not enough space to update its ticket barrier.

He said: “We appreciate there are a lot of concerns and recognise the
inconvenience that may be caused, but it is for safety reasons.”

The final decision on the station plans will be made by the Department
of Transport with recommendations from Southeastern.

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"Safety reasons" sounds like a total cop-out to me. The exit from
platform 4 that they plan to leave open is extremely narrow and can't
deal with the numbers of people using it currently, let alone doubling
those numbers. Having said that, not sure where they get five flights
of stairs from for an exit; it's only two (one down from the platform
and one up to the ticket hall).

Similar dramas have happened at Forest Hill and Sydenham where train
companies have tried to close well-used exits so they can put ticket
gates in. I would have more sympathy if they were actually going to
staff the ticket gates around the clock rather than leave them open
after about 8pm.

Patrick