Cromwell Road bus station in Kingston has reopened.
There are eight versions of today's post, according to your level of interest.
(click to jump to the right one)
1) I just need the basics 2) I never intend to visit but tell me more 3) I sometimes use this bus station 4) I need accessible options 5) I am very very interested in buses 6) I only want to know what's wrong with it 7) I like laughing at press releases 8) I hate buses, please stop writing about them
1) New bus station reopens
Cromwell Road bus station is the larger of Kingston's two bus interchanges. It closed in August 2023 for a complete rebuild including new facilities and a brand new canopy. Yesterday it finally reopened (later than hoped after a few months of snagging). It looks a lot nicer than before and should be better at warding off the elements. TfL are very proud of how much more sustainable and energy efficient it is.
2) Bus station refurbishment complete
The previous bus station opened in 1995 on the site of a former coal yard. It was 12 bays long with four additional bus stops alongside the ring road. TfL first proposed major modernisation in 2013, submitted plans in 2015 and had them approved in 2016, because that's how long it takes to fund a project and bring it to completion. The redevelopment is bookended by two new pavilions which include waiting rooms, an information counter and facilities for staff. Inbetween is a longcanopy formed from diamond-shaped openings through weathered steel plates supported by curved cruciform columns. The new seating is chunky wooden benches rather than less-comfy green-painted metal. It all looks great.
3) Praise be, the bus station is finally open again
It's been a very long fifteen months hasn't it? Not having a bus station has been a right faff with services despatched from temporary stops on the ring road or much further afield, but now thank god they're all back in one place again. The important thing is that all the buses are leaving from exactly the same stop as before, nobody's reshuffled them like they normally do. Here's what departs from where.
♿ A4
285 A5/A6
111 A7/A8
216 A9
411 A10
461 A11
481 458 A12
K1 A13
71 A14/15
465 A16
central walkway
A1 213 371 SL7 K2 K3 K4 K5
Z1 alight only
A2 57 85 131 K5
A3 65 281 406 418 513 514 515 715
Posters showing which bus leaves from which bay have been posted all over the place. Be aware that the northbound 65 and westbound SL7 depart from a nearby street - a special arrow on signage points the way. If you need more help there's an Information and Assistance window, although it may not always be occupied. The waiting room isn't ready yet. A heck of a lot of security cameras are watching every move you make. The new canopy looks well smart, like the cloisters in an Escher cathedral or a huge block of melting chocolate. It's not rusty, it just looks like that.
4) Accessible options at the forefront
The unique thing about Cromwell Road bus station is that none of the twelve bays are suitable for accessible boarding. This is not a thoughtless omission, this is deliberate. Instead all those with wheelchairs, pushchairs and mobility needs are directed to bus stop A4. This is located beside the exit from the bus station so every vehicle has to pass it on the way out. It has a drop kerb and also a bench you can wait on until the bus you want arrives. What it doesn't have is a poster explaining where all the buses go, you're expected to know that. Conveniently the accessible stop is located beside the accessible toilet, because hurrah there's now one of those too.
5) Revamped bus station is bustastic
Sixteen bus stops makes this the largest of all TfL's bus stations. Vehicles you can spot include Streetdeck Electroliners, Enviro200 MMCs and Superloop-branded 10.4m Geminis. All yourfavouriteteenagecreators were down here on the first morning filming videos to save you the bother of turning up. Respect for the uploaders. Sadly the small unit that's potentially a coffee shop is utterly empty so you'll need to bring your own thermos.
6) Yes there are mistakes and omissions
A clock would be nice. There isn't a clock. Yes there are two electronic departure boards, one at either end, but you can't see either of them if you're waiting at a bus stop. The other thing there isn't is a map. A spider map would be really useful, particularly given this is an interchange with a huge number of departure options, but these days nobody can be bothered to produce any up-to-date spider maps for the two Kingston bus stations or the town centre. It's all very well having a simple list of destinations if where you want to go is a terminus like Putney or Epsom, but for intermediate places like Surbiton or Cheam your only option is walking up and down and scouring all the timetables. Also at bus stop A12 they got the name of the operator and the days of operation wrong so those parts of the sign have had to be covered over with white tape.
7) The PR desk has been working overtime
» "This brand-new bus station will make bus journeys in Kingston much more convenient, safe and attractive." (Attractive yes, safe perhaps, but it's the same stops in the same place which I don't think is "much more convenient") » "...with a new canopy in the waiting area to keep passengers warm and dry throughout the seasons" (I can assure you the canopy does nothing whatsoever to keep people warm, and won't keep you dry either if the wind direction is wrong) » Lorna Murphy, TfL's Director of Buses, said: "The new bus station has been designed with customers in mind" (I'd hope so because the alternative would be ridiculous) » "The 1,600 square meters of Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) at Cromwell Road bus station adds to TfL's annual target of 5,000 square meters of SuDS catchment" (if a single bus station can contribute a third of your annual quota then your SuDS target is miserably unaspirational)
8) I was in Bushy Park and this young stag just trotted past
The Kingston area's not all about buses, it's also about close encounters of the antlered kind. But you could get here by catching a 111 from bus stop A7 and alighting at Hampton Grove, if only you did buses.
