DELAYS to the construction of an accessible lift and footbridge at Chalkwell Station have been branded a “disgrace” by a Southend MP.

Work on the lift, part of the £350 million Access for All programme funded by the Department for Transport, was originally slated to begin in Autumn 2022.

However, construction has been postponed four times, with work now tentatively set to commence in spring/summer of 2025 and concluded by 2026 – a two-year deviation from the initial 2024 finish.

Chalkwell Station is currently the only station in the Southend West region without accessible structures and has 40 steep steps which are considered inaccessible to anyone with a disability or with a pushchair.

Southend West MP Anna Firth has been campaigning for the work to take place as soon as possible and has slammed Network Rail for the delays.

Ms Firth said: “It is an absolute disgrace that Chalkwell Station is still without an accessible lift, cutting off disabled passengers from accessing the rail network.

“I have raised this issue seven times in the House of Commons since being elected and been promised time and time again that work will commence imminently, it is past time we saw action to match these words.

“Local people deserve answers as to why the work has not commenced and when it will be completed.”

Her comments in the House of Commons chamber this week mark the seventh time Ms Firth has brought the issue to Parliament.

Ms Firth has also submitted three written parliamentary questions to the Department for Transport and penned multiple letters to ministers and Network Rail.

In May 2022, Network Rail promised work would commence in the autumn of 2022, and expected to be completed by 2024.

Since then, the inception of the project has been adjourned four times, and the predicted date of completion has been rescheduled by two years.

In her most recent plea in the House, Firth implored Huw Merriman, the Rail Minister, to expedite the work.

Merriman agreed the postponements were unsatisfactory and vowed to visit Chalkwell station to scrutinise the project and unveil any plausible solutions to hasten the delivery.