A London Underground station serving tennis fans heading to the Wimbledon championships is being stretched to its limits according to locals, as Lime bikes litter the pavement outside.
Southfields has seen extensive train delays at the station this week as well as piles of Lime bikes clogging pavements, with concerns that the planned expansion of the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) could lead to the area being overwhelmed in future years.
Earlier this week, a track fault at Tower Hill brought the District Line to a standstill, triggering long queues and packed platforms at key Wimbledon access points including Southfields and Wimbledon Park stations. Disruptions continued through Thursday, with trains between Tower Hill and Whitechapel suspended and knock-on delays across the line.
Tony McConnell, who runs a coffee stand outside Southfields station, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that these problems are not new. “The Tubes have been bad all week, but the bottom line is that it’s an old railway,” he said.
“This station works fine the rest of the year, it is more than adequate then. It really struggles to cope during Wimbledon though, and it will continue to struggle even more if the expansion goes ahead.”
While City Hall has approved the AELTC’s expansion, it’s set to face legal challenges from local campaign groups.
Mr McConnell, a resident for over 20 years, said the area simply isn’t built to handle more growth. “The tournament is big enough, the area can’t take much more,” he said.
“It’s a wonderful event, but they want to make it bigger. It’s struggling to cope as it is.”
He described sitting in a traffic jam at 5.30am just to reach his coffee stand. “It’s madness,” he said. “It’s like putting a sticking plaster on a leak at the moment.”
Wimbledon MP Paul Kohler posted on X on Tuesday (July 1) warning that the transport issues would affect tennis fans and commuters alike. “Attendees are now being caught up in cancellations and delays,” he said, noting that residents, commuters and international visitors had all been severely affected.
Mr Kohler said he had been told Wimbledon Station was “very crowded” on Tuesday. He called on Transport for London (TfL) to outline what extra support is in place to keep services running smoothly during the remainder of the tournament.
As one of the closest stations to the AELTC, the diminutive Southfields Station bears the brunt of the pressure. According to TfL data from 2010, more than three times the usual number of passengers pass through the station during the tournament.
Some visitors were more forgiving of the delays. Sue and David, who travelled through Earls Court, said. “It wasn’t awful. The queues were pretty bad during our change at Earls Court but it was all fine when we got it,” said David.
They admitted the crowds were intense but well-handled. “To be honest, it was well marshalled, and you expect some crowds,” Sue added.
Jacob Williams, another visitor, pointed out how Southfields becomes the flashpoint when other parts of the network go down. “There’s a great atmosphere here today,” he said. “But I know there was a lot of travel issues yesterday and I can imagine this place is the first place to suffer when you get disruption further down the line.”
Lime bikes have become another sore point for locals, with dozens left clustered outside the station, taking up space on already-packed pavements. During a visit to the station on Friday morning (July 4), the LDRS saw pedestrians hemmed into a small pathway by shop windows to avoid the parking overspill on one pavement.
One parent hoping to join the Championships queue with their child told the LDRS: “It never used to be like this. I know it’s one of the quickest ways here but they shouldn’t be able to take up all the pavement like this.”
They added: “It’s going to get busy with people coming home from the tennis later. I hope most of the bikes have gone by then.”
Daniel Gibson of Barnard Marcus estate agents said he was shocked by the scale of the crowds. “It’s my first time working here during Wimbledon. It’s crazy, especially compared to what it is normally like.”
He said the influx of people was good for local business but had created havoc on the roads and pavements.
“A lot of the shops round here are family businesses so to see a lot of activity in the local area is great,” he said. “But the transport gets hectic and now you’ve got people getting Lime bikes all the way from Morden. It is just chaos.”
AELTC’s expansion plans, which include 39 new courts and an 8,000-seater stadium on the site of Wimbledon Park, could bring thousands more visitors to Southfields each year if any legal challenges are unsuccessful in stopping the development.
Southfields has seen some improvements by TfL and its partners in recent years, including widened pavements and upgraded pedestrian crossings. However, fears about its ability to cope during one of the world’s most prestigious and popular tennis tournaments remain.
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