The estate that’s ‘unimaginable’ without a car as station still not built

Residents of a newly-constructed neighbourhood in Rainham have been left disappointed after feeling 'stuck" in brand-new homes without a promised train station. Many Beam Park residents have claimed to have changed their office hours, in order to allow an extra hour of commuting to the city, as the planned Beam Park rail station is not built yet despite a proposal being submitted in 2012 MyLondon reports.^[1]

Homes in the new housing development are reportedly costing up to £550,000. The station was proposed by ministers to provide a transport link from the Thames Riverside Opportunity area to Dagenham Dock and Rainham stations on the Thameside line.

Some occupants said, without a car, living in the neighbourhood would be "unimaginable" as even food shops are 'out of reach on foot'. Md Kavirul Islam, 42, an IT consultant, commutes often to Canary Wharf for his job.

He says he has had to alter the time he comes in. Mr Islam said: “It’s really difficult. The thing is I have to go to the office, driving to Canary Wharf. I start work at 8 o’clock, and I need to pass through one hour of traffic.

“Also, my wife, she works in central London. She goes one hour and a half earlier than she needs to. The nearest station is Dagenham Dock, and I don’t feel safe in the night time. There’s no bus stop next to the train station, [so there’s] no quick access to the train station.

“It’s unimaginable here without a car. You can’t have access to central London without your car. I moved in one and a half years ago now, that was our first thing. We would need to have access to the train station so we can commute to the city very easily.

“I’ve had to change my office time. I have to go in for 9am, I can’t make it (for 8am). £550,000 is a big investment, and we expected amenities. This has not been done, it’s really disappointing for us. Even the A13 is full of traffic between 7am and 8am. After 10am it slows down and you can make the journey in more normal hours.”

Ziaur Rahman, 42, who works at a nearby Sainsburys, and his son Wahidur Rahman, 16, were spotted working on the family car on their drive. Mr Rahman bought his house one and a half years ago for £480,000.

He said: “People [selling] the properties said it will be there.” Asked if it was a pain waiting for the stop, Mr Rahman added: “Yes. At the end of the day, they announced that it would be minutes' walking distance. But most of the houses, they’re stuck without that.”

His son said: “My mum works near central London. It would be amazing if we had the station. It was one of the things that convinced us to come here.”

Asked whether the lack of station had affected his social life, Mr Rahman added: “Kind of. The nearest Tube station is Dagenham Heathway. That’s about 15 minutes on the bus. “It would have been easier to get to my college as well [with a station]. I used to go to college in Beckton. I could have gone to Barking and taken a bus from there. But, now I have to take a bus from here.”

Walking through the estate on a hot August day was Anca, 35, a part-time sales assistant and mother to her four-and-a-half-year-old son, who wished not to provide her surname. She says she sometimes has to wake her boy and drive to Dagenham Dock to pick up her husband when it is raining and he is on his way back home from work.

She said: “It [the train station] was promised here, but they’re lying. For me it’s easy, for my husband it’s complicated. He has to take two buses sometimes. It is different times waiting for one, and sometimes he’s late for work at Canary Wharf.

“I bought the house and they promised the station. It’s easy for family [to park their cars on the drive], but if it’s some friends coming, it’s hard to visit London [without a nearby train station]. If you go and buy a ticket for the bus for six people, it’s expensive.

“I’m not happy about it. The house was [very] expensive, and they promised they would have the station. Where is the money I gave them? I’m not happy. My husband is so tired running for everything.

“I need to collect my husband [from Dagenham Dock]. It’s horrible. Sometimes it’s raining outside and I have to wake up my son [so I can go and collect my husband].”

A 40-year-old, also an IT consultant, who wished to remain anonymous, commutes into Croydon^[3] twice a week from his £530,000 home. He said, when selling the houses, one of the developers' promises was that there will be train station "by the middle of 2022".

He added that buyers were told they would be able to reach Liverpool Street in 25 minutes, but presently they were struggling to even buy food. "If you don’t have a personal car," he said, "you can’t even go shopping".

Others, meanwhile, are more laid back. A 42-year-old stay-at-home mum who was the first to move into a Beam Park home in 2020 and wished not to be named, said: “The odds are it will get built eventually. The footfall is increasing in Rainham and Dagenham Dock. They will have to put something in place, it’s a matter of when."

But, she added that parking cars in the area can be a challenge. She said: "Part of that was included in the planning for parking. If people have a station, they don’t need parking. Residents are in a situation now where there’s no parking and no train station.

She also described how her husband is forced to use the ferry to travel to work. She added: “My Husband has to commute to Gatwick, he still works on the railway. He ends up driving over to Barking Riverside and getting the riverboat in London. It’s an easier route trying to do it without the station.”

The leader of Havering Council^[4] claims that five thousand new homes^[5] (of which, 2,400 are in the borough), across three new housing development sites depend on the rail link opening “to become viable”.

The authority laid out a timeline in a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport^[6], Mark Harper, in December 2022. It wrote: “A new station at Beam Park was discussed in 2012 and confirmed when the ‘Stakeholder Briefing Document Essex Thameside Franchise Replacement (Updated)’ was issued to bidders in September 2013.

“The 2014 East Thameside franchise agreement and subsequent emergency measures agreements clearly carry various obligations on c2c to support the promotion of the station. Following a successful bidding process, Rainham and Beam Park was identified in 2015 as one of the GLA’s new ‘Housing Zones’ and the station forms part of the London Borough of Havering’s adopted Local Plan 2016-2031.

“The Network Rail East Thameside Route Study of July 2020 clearly suggests that Network Rail have presumed Beam Park Station will be opened. [...] We are therefore writing to request that you take an interest in this issue, demonstrate that you care about the challenging issues faced by this area of East London, and intervene to ensure that the timetable is kept on track, so that this station can be open by the end of 2025.”

Now, the leader of Havering Council, Councillor Ray Morgon, has told MyLondon^[7]: “There was a promise of building Beam Park station. That’s not happened, and it’s still a bit of a battle to see if we can get somebody to agree to build it.

“So, there’s not a station down there [in Rainham], that’s really needed. Not only for businesses but there’s a lot of new residential development that’s gone on in Beam Park, and many people actually bought their properties down there predicated on the fact that they would be Bean Park station.

“Whereas now, they feel quite aggrieved that the station isn’t going to be built. Certainly, as we talk today [Thursday, August 3] there are no firm plans for it to be built.

“So, certainly in the south of the borough in particular, there’s very little in the way of buses that go down there. There are potential cycle routes, but they’re not very good cycle routes, and it’s not particularly safe.

“So it’s a real problem. [The south of the borough] is probably more in need of good public transport than any other part of the borough.”

A spokesperson on behalf of Beam Park said: “We understand and echo residents’ concern with regards to the new rail station at Beam Park. We strongly believe that investing in key infrastructure, like the new rail station at Beam Park, is essential to improving public transport for local people, supporting the construction of thousands of new homes and wider regeneration in this part of London.

"As such, we want to reassure residents and the local community that the Beam Park joint venture (Countryside and L&Q) is committed to working with landowner the GLA on the delivery of the Beam Park Station.

"Likewise, the GLA continues to work with the Department for Transport (DfT), LB Havering, c2c and Network Rail to find a way forward for this important project. Further technical work is currently being carried out by Network Rail, to assess the impact of the station on the wider network and this will likely continue for the most part of 2023.”

Government officials say the business case for Beam Park station is ongoing, and is owned by the Greater London Authority (GLA). It is its responsibility, therefore, to fund the construction of the station and all its operating costs.

A spokesperson for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “The GLA is committed to working on the delivery of Beam Park Station. We strongly believe that investing in key infrastructure, like the new rail station at Beam Park, is essential to improving public transport for local people, supporting the construction of thousands of new homes and wider regeneration in this part of London.

The GLA continues to work with the Department for Transport, LB Havering, c2c and Network Rail to find a way forward for this important project. Further technical work has commenced to assess the impact of the station on the wider network and will likely continue for the most part of 2023.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “We fully support the vision for economic growth in the area, and continue to engage with all parties on these ongoing plans.”

References

1. ^{^} MyLondon reports. (www.mylondon.news)
2. ^{^} Real Greek set to open new restaurant serving 'authentic' cuisine in Essex (www.essexlive.news)
3. ^{^} Croydon (www.mylondon.news)
4. ^{^} Havering Council (www.mylondon.news)
5. ^{^} homes (www.mylondon.news)
6. ^{^} Transport (www.mylondon.news)
7. ^{^} MyLondon (www.mylondon.news)
8. ^{^} The 'grim' Essex 'ghost town' right next to 'the nicest place you could live' (www.essexlive.news)