A complete line in a tunnel with underground main line platforms: https://www.bradfordhistorical.org.uk/allchange.html#:~:text=1894-1919: West Riding Lines and Bradford Through Lines Acts
Well, except that the Elephant is actually in the London Borough of Southwark....Maybe they're a little far apart to create a single station, but I used to live in Leytonstone and thought that properly connecting the High Road station with the Underground station would have been a good idea. If you build south from the station car park there's plenty of room beyond the cess on the western flank to provide quite wide footpath. You could fairly easily shift the High Road station towards the A12 as the remnants of the originals platforms are still extant and could be refurbished.
The, ahem, Elephant in the room for London though is that one near the big roundabout that used to have a great shopping centre on top of it. Can't think of the name right now but I'm sure you know the one I mean. Connecting there is terrible, once you exit the Thameslink station you're on your own in the Wilds of Lambeth.
That was first suggested a while ago, with additional bus stops right outside that entrance, but I believe the narrow width of the A325 road bridge made it infeasible, alongside needing the relocation of the Up signal gantry.
Ah so it is! Approximately 330m over the demise
It would overlook residential property.
Ah ****e, thought it was commercial property between Dorking Main and Deepdene.
About 250m from entrance to entrance on street today, with one residential road (Lincoln Rd) to cross. Google Maps says 4 minutes on foot. I wouldn't hesitate to use it as an interchange if ever necessary for my journey needs, not likely living in Devon but you never know!
It's residential along the A24 London Rd part of the current roadside pavement route, then commercial along Station Approach. Agree on lifts, although maybe graded ramps zig-zagging up the embankment, supplementing the stairs might be an alternative option with lower capital and maintenance costs and greater resilience, although would add distance for those that need to use it.
Having just looked at Google Maps, this does seem to me to be a case where - as with many suggestions here - most of the benefit could be got for a fraction of the cost with decent signing. The walk is along the pavement of an 'A' road which is presumably busy - but the pavement is wide enough to be used as a cycleway as well, so it shouldn't feel too unsafe for a pedestrian. It's got street lights - maybe these could be augmented to give extra security at night. But extra signs at each end (to point to the other station) and maybe on-pavement signs (BR arrowhead with an arrow each way perhaps?) should surely be enough.
Graded ramps would likely be too steep for wheelchair users still, and lifts would be better placed to distribute load across the narrow platforms, rather than cluster in one place. You could refurbish the staircase as a graded ramp alternative.
keep the stairs and put lifts in pretty much off the pavement. I think you want to fiddle with the embankments as little as possible……
Given NR's recent adventure with parapets/embankments in Oxfordshire, I'd say they wouldn't mind having a look at the internal condition...
I don't understand how. They're more than a mile apart.
