It has submitted its proposals to the London Borough of Bexley and the Royal Borough of Greenwich for approval.
The existing station will be demolished and replaced by a temporary station by summer 2014, which will be located in the current station car park. In addition, two tracks for Crossrail services will be installed next to the existing North Kent lines and work will be carried out to raise and lengthen a number of bridges along the track so they can accommodate the overhead electric wires that will be used by Crossrail trains.
The work will be carried out by Network Rail, which is responsible for the delivery of the parts of Crossrail that are on the existing network.
The Crossrail project is set to be a significant spur to regeneration in Abbey Wood, encouraging investment and development as well as supporting jobs and businesses in the local area.
The new two-level station is targeted to open in 2017 after a four-year construction programme. It will be built above two new dedicated Crossrail tracks and those used by North Kent services.
From 2018, a train every five minutes during the peak will allow residents to travel straight through the capital without having to change trains. The journey from Abbey Wood to Canary Wharf and Bond Street will be around 20 minutes quicker and passengers travelling to Heathrow will be able to shave around 40 minutes off their journey.
Passenger numbers at the station are predicted to almost treble within the next 15 years, with numbers during the morning peak expected to top 10,000 by 2026.
Crossrail chief executive Andrew Wolstenholme said: “Crossrail will help to transform the local area, dramatically improving transport links, reducing congestion on existing rail services, providing a boost to the local economy and supporting wider regeneration in southeast London.”
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