Mitcham Eastfields railway station

Mitcham Eastfields (initially known as Eastfields during planning and construction) is a railway station in London, United Kingdom, which opened on 2 June 2008. The station is located at Eastfields Road level crossing, in an area previously poorly served by public transport. The nearest station was Mitcham Junction, which along with Mitcham tram stop, was over a mile away from the district. It is in fare zone 3.

History
Proposals for the station have apparently existed since the 1930s. Planning permission was granted by the London Borough of Merton in August 2007. Construction started in October 2007. Following consultation, there were hopes to have the station open by December 2007.

The opening was originally scheduled for 19 May 2008 but that date was subsequently put back because Network Rail did not feel the station would be ready until early June. The opening was then planned for the morning of Monday 2 June, but in the event it was delayed till the afternoon by safety inspections. It finally opened at 16:00 and the first train arrived at 16:11.

Design
The station cost £6m, and was the second station to be built to a modular design developed by Network Rail, which is also used at Corby railway station and Greenhithe railway station which was the first to be constructed. The platforms are 170 m long, with a building on the up (northbound) platform. The platforms are arranged so that each is situated beyond the level crossing in the direction of travel, allowing the crossing to be reopened while trains are stopped at the station, minimising the disruption to road traffic. However this means that passengers must cross Eastfields Road (no controlled crossing at present) if they wish to purchase a ticket on the northbound side and then travel southbound. The footbridge on the southbound side only allows safe movement over the railway and not the road.

Services
Mitcham Eastfields station is served by Southern trains to and from Victoria, and by First Capital Connect trains on the Sutton Loop of Thameslink. The current journey time on this line between Mitcham Junction station and Streatham is six minutes. London Victoria can be reached in just over 15 minutes.

The typical off-peak train service per hour is:
 * 2tph (trains per hour) to St Albans via Herne Hill and London Blackfriars (On Sundays, this service terminates at London Blackfriars)
 * 2tph to London Victoria via Clapham Junction
 * 2tph to Wimbledon via Sutton
 * 2tph to Epsom via Hackbridge and Sutton

During the peak hours trains from Mitcham Eastfields also travel to Dorking and Horsham.

Transport links
London bus routes 152 and 463.

Usage statistics
Merton Council's magazine reported in June 2009 that 52,000 journeys have been made from the station.