New data has revealed how busy Sundridge Park is, despite plans to close the ticket office.

Sundridge Park, located in the borough of Bromley, is run by Southeastern and currently serves the Bromley North line.

The station’s ticket office is one of 40 stations across south London that Southeastern plans to close under new plans to enable further staff to be able to provide face-to-face assistance to customers at these stations.

The plans are set to be introduced as the company brings in further ways for customers to purchase tickets through self-service technology and contactless payment methods.

Sundridge Park station was bottom of the list after it reportedly sold no tickets at all from its ticket office window in May this year.

Under new plans, the station is proposed to be staffed from 6.30am to 1.30pm on weekdays following the changes.

James Darvell, 33, owner of the Larder café and butcher on Plaistow Lane, the station has become less used since the Covid outbreak.

Missing word He said local businesses may benefit if people were able to travel directly from the station into Central London, without the need to change trains at Bromley North or Grove Park.

James said: “The rush hour’s about six people… But it’s a direct link into Grove Park and on towards Central London so [the area] does need it, it definitely needs the station to be there.”

But according to data from On Time Trains, it is estimated that around 300 people use the station on average every day.

On Time Trains has compared 2,633 train stations across the UK over the last six months, and new data has revealed how busy each station is and how many of its trains were on time.

According to data from On Time Trains, the station is ranked to be the 1,477th busiest train station in the UK, receiving an average of 298 passengers a day.

Findings also revealed that Sundridge Park station was 56th best out of the 2,633 compared stations, which was a decrease by 49 places compared to the previous time period.

The station received a 97 per cent performance score with 70 per cent of its trains recorded as being on time, with a further 28 per cent of trains that were recorded as being up to two minutes late.

An additional one per cent of trains were cancelled during the same time period.

The station currently only serves the Bromley North Line, which travels three stops from Grove Park to Bromley North.

Constance Leech, 40, she feels that the station would benefit from having connections directly into central London to increase footfall.

She said: “I call it the choo choo train because it’s literally one stop. You’re not going to get that train to go into town, are you? It’s off at the weekends and if you miss your connection, it doesn’t align with the trains going into London and I think that’s the biggest thing.

“It would be great if you could just go straight from here all the way into London.”

A spokesperson for Southeastern told LDRS that it didn’t have any plans to introduce a direct train service to and from Central London on the Bromley North line, although added that plans were constantly being reviewed.

David Wornham, Southeastern’s Passenger Services Director, told the LDRS the company aimed to build a better, safer and more accessible railway: “To help those who need help or advice at stations, we want to bring staff who previously worked in ticket offices out into stations where they can directly provide customer support while also helping people with accessibility needs and keeping everyone safe.

“We’re proposing to re-staff 18 stations that are currently unstaffed due to vacancies – one of those stations is Sundridge Park.

“Many people now buy their tickets by using proven technology such as Pay as You Go, Oyster and e-tickets.

“Our vision is a world where customers do not have to queue at a ‘glass window’ to buy a paper ticket, can use a ticket vending machine to collect a ticket purchased online, or do not need to print their ticket to use it.

“With customers buying holidays, shopping, and banking on-line they can now also buy rail tickets on their phone at a time that suits them.

“While we don’t have plans to introduce direct trains to or from Central London on the Grove Park-Bromley North line, we’re constantly reviewing the numbers of customers using this service to inform future timetable changes.”