A senior politician in Hounslow has signalled his support for upgrades to the borough’s main rail service but points to other transport links which need urgent attention.

Hounslow Council’s leader Steve Curran said today (Friday) how he welcomes the announcement by South West Trains of extra carriages and a more frequent service on the Hounslow loop as reported by getwestlondon on Wednesday (3).

However he balanced his praise by adding it is time for Boris Johnson the Mayor of Londons to stop keeping locals waiting on Piccadilly line improvements. 

He said: “The news from South West Trains about these extra carriages for the Hounslow Loop will be music to our commuters ears.” 

The Hounslow loop – which runs through Feltham, Isleworth, Syon Lane, Brentford, Kew Bridge and Chiswick from south London will get 150 more carriages by 2017. 

However, he added that the upgrade needs to get on the fast track to help Hounslow’s drive to regenerate its famous ‘Golden Mile’ – the area on the Great West Road which is home to many multi-national businesses. 

He said: “We really need more capacity on the services which cater for booming businesses, such as BskyB, along the Golden Mile in Brentford. The trains are crammed to bursting point so I hope South West Trains will do all they can to bring these carriages online as soon as possible.” 

Referring to the long-standing campaign being led by Brentford and Isleworth MP Mary Macleod to upgrade the Piccadilly Line and get it to start serving Turnham Green he admitted he shared the majority view the line was no longer fit for purpose.

He said: “Now that Boris Island has been sunk we hope the Mayor of London will urgently look into making massive improvements to the line, which is in danger of becoming an international embarrassment.

“The Piccadilly Line is the first impression hundreds of thousands of international travellers get of London and the UK and as we all know, first impressions count.”