The DfT and Southern have confirmed that Smitham Station will be renamed to “Coulsdon Town.”
The station opened as Smitham in 1904, when Smitham Bottom and Old Coulsdon were still relatively distinct entities. By the First World War, however, housing infill had resulted in the effective merger of the two areas and the two collectively became Coulsdon. Coulsdon then became officially part of Croydon under the 1963 London Government Act.
In recent years there has been a degree of local pressure aimed at getting the station named to something more clearly inline with the area. This ultimately culminated in Croydon Council asking the DfT to include the renaming of the station in the new Southern Franchise awarded last year. The DfT agreed and a public consultation was held. After Croydon Council had approved the new name, Southern took it to the DfT who have now officially confirmed it.
Southern indicate that we are likely to see the new name manifest after the May timetable change, although there is thus far no indication whether it’ll be a straight switch or with an intermediary change (at least in signage terms) to “Coulsdon Town (Smitham).”
Thanks to TW for the spot.
Comments are closed.