Ticket gates at New Malden station

South West Trains will be introducing automatic ticket gates at New Malden station. These are due to come into operation in October 2009.  The automatic ticket gates will be installed in the enlarged and improved booking hall on the north side of the station.

The plans for the ticket gates had included permanent closure of the south side entrance so that all passengers would need to enter the station via the entrance on the north side.  Extensive feedback has been received from the public and local authority regarding that closure of the south side exit.  South West Trains has consulted with both members of the community and their representatives and following that consultation we have revised our plans.

In summary, we now plan to provide access via the south side for ticket-holders only during the morning and afternoon peak periods.  The south side entrance will also be open at those times when the ticket gates are not in operation.  Further details of the planned mode of operation of the station are:

1. Manually operated gates will be installed on the south side entrance.  Those gates will be of a steel railing construction that can be seen through.

2. A buzzer will be installed outside the south gates to enable customers with mobility problems to call through to the ticket office to be admitted to the station:

• This is for the purpose of gaining access to the ticket office only.
• The gates and buzzer will be overseen by CCTV visible to the ticket clerk to enable them to check that the facility is not being abused.

3. Access via the down side entrance will be opened at the following times:

• At those times when the ticket gate line in the booking hall is not in operation.  This includes evenings through to early morning on all days of the week.
• From 06:30 to 09:40 Monday to Friday inclusive (excluding bank holidays):
  • This will allow access into or out of the station by ticket-holders only.
  • Staff will check tickets during this period.
  • If passengers approaching the entrance from outside the station do not have a ticket they will be asked to purchase one at one of the self-service ticket machines or at the ticket office.
  • If passengers from within the station do not have a ticket they will be referred to the staff in the booking hall where they can expect to be dealt with in accordance with the South West Trains policy on penalty fares.
• From 16:30 to 20:00 Monday to Friday inclusive, on the same basis as the morning period.

4. The exceptions to the opening times listed in point 3 above will be those occasions when the station is closed due to no train service, e.g. Christmas Day, or due to exceptional situations such as engineering works affecting New Malden station.  On those occasions the gates on the down side will be closed.

5. Two Oyster validators will be installed in the south side entrance prior to the planned introduction of Oyster Pay As You Go for national rail services through New Malden.

Passenger flow data show that the above mode of operation of the south side will ensure that the south gates will be open to fully cover the peak hours of operation.  These data show that at least 75% of New Malden passengers on a Monday to Friday will have the same facility to exit the south side following the introduction of the gates as they had prior to the introduction of the gates.

We would like to thank the local community for their feedback during this process and would ask local people for their patience while work to install the gates is being carried out.