Plans to cut congestion, increase capacity and make life more pleasant for passengers in Ealing Broadway station have been revealed as it prepares for Crossrail.
Nick O’Donnell, Ealing Council’s top transport officer, said it has been negotiating with Crossrail Ltd, the company in charge of creating the new line – from Maidenhead and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east – to create the best re-design possible.
He said the council’s biggest coup was increasing the size and doubling the number of planned lifts, after conducting its own passenger surveys, proving the demand for the increase. There will now be four lifts when work is complete in December 2016, although one is likely only to be used in emergencies.
Bassam Mahfouz, the council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “We were not satisfied the proposals were adequate and I am delighted we’ve successfully got Crossrail to double that offer to meet the needs of local people. It’s a huge victory that truly opens up Ealing Broadway station and will make it accessible to all. The icing on the cake is the station improvements will be delivered 18 months ahead of the original schedule.”
There will be a glass entrance at ground level, about twice the size of the current one, and a much bigger, brighter ticket hall with almost double the number of ticket barriers.
The amount of retail space is planned to be doubled, while at platform level there will be a much bigger space to move around, cutting the current problem of passengers frequently crossing paths to different lines.The design also includes new stairs, toilets, waiting areas, station canopies, information screens and platform extensions to accommodate the 10 carriage Crossrail trains planned to run through the station from December 2018.
For many of the 21 million passengers who use the station every year, the work is long overdue.A public consultation on the work will be held once a planning application has been submitted to the town hall.Transport groups have criticised Crossrail for dragging their feet and say a public consultation on the works at Ealing Broadway, as well as developments at Southall, Hanwell, West Ealing and Acton Mainline, due to be completed in 2018, must be held soon to give time for feedback and revisions to the plans.
Matt White, surface director at Crossrail said the firm hoped to submit the application ‘very soon’, adding: “We‘re proposing major improvements for Ealing Broadway station and have been working closely for some time with the council and local groups to make sure we get the plans right.”
Ealing Broadway Station’s redesign will be combined with works outside in the forecourt by Ealing Council, funded by a £4.5million grant from TfL. This will be carried out in two phases. The first includes, cutting back the low wall, a zebra crossing and semi-pedestrianising the forecourt to make it easier to get to the station from Haven Green. There will also be screens giving live bus, tube and train information and it is hoped to be completed by Christmas or early next year.
The second will come after Crossrail has finished and created the new entrance at the station. The area will be fully pedestrianised with a limited number of drop off points for motorists nearby.
