Network Rail and South Western Railway will start work in February 2026 on lifts and a second entrance at Wandsworth train station, 44 months after Wandsworth Council first announced the improvements.
The £20 million project will create step-free access to all four platforms and build a new northern entrance on Odyssey Way, with completion scheduled for summer 2027. The 18-month construction programme will see temporary platform and entrance closures, though the station will remain open throughout.
Wandsworth Council first announced plans for the improvements in June 2022, declaring they were “gathering pace.” Instead, costs more than doubled while passengers continued to endure overcrowding at the Victorian station’s single entrance and steep staircases.
Cabinet papers approved in November reveal the council will contribute £7.08 million toward the £20 million total cost. The Department for Transport’s Access for All scheme is funding the majority, with the council’s contribution split between £4.43 million for the second entrance and £2.65 million toward the accessibility improvements.
The council is paying nothing from its own budget. All £7.08 million comes from Section 106 developer contributions, money paid by developers as a condition of planning permission for nearby housing developments. The council has received £1.53 million to date, with £2.47 million pending from signed agreements and £843,340 from unsigned agreements.
Network Rail requested an additional £2 million from the council in September 2025 to “maximise the likelihood of Department for Transport approval to proceed to implementation,” according to cabinet papers. This increased the council’s contribution from an originally budgeted £5.9 million to £7.08 million.
What’s being built
The new northern entrance to Wandsworth train station will ease pressure on the existing single entrance, where complaints about overcrowding at ticket barriers and in tunnels have mounted as the area has seen rapid development. Three new lifts will make the station fully accessible, benefiting passengers with mobility issues, parents with buggies, and travellers with luggage.
The second entrance connects with bus stops on Swandon Way, improving interchange after southbound buses were permanently diverted from Old York Road.
Disruption ahead
Preparatory works begin in February with hoarding and ducting installation. A temporary scaffold bridge goes up in April, followed by piling works between May and November 2026. The lift shaft will be installed in February 2027.
Network Rail warns that “some entrances and platforms may be temporarily closed” during construction, though specific details about which platforms and when have not been published. Service changes will be announced as the programme progresses.
The station handles 3.75 million passengers annually, making Wandsworth train station the 15th busiest on the South Western Railway network. The improvements come as the Wandsworth Town area continues to see significant housing development, with residents from the former Homebase and B&Q sites already adding to station demand.
The delay exemplifies a pattern where infrastructure improvements consistently lag behind the housing developments they’re meant to support. The council secured developer contributions in 2022 specifically to make these improvements possible, yet residents from those developments have been using an overcrowded, inaccessible station for years while the project stalled.
