Member Article

Crossrail: Green light for new station at West Ealing

Proposals for a major overhaul of West Ealing station have been given the go ahead by Ealing Council.

The proposals, designed by Bennetts Associates, are for a modern, spacious new ticket hall.

The new glass and steel structure will be located on Manor Road and a range of other major improvements will be made to the station, including:

• A new footbridge with new lifts to provide step-free access to every platform.
• The creation of a new bay platform for trains on the Greenford branch line.
• Platform extensions so the station can accommodate the new 200m long Crossrail trains.
• New lighting, customer information screens, station signage, help points and CCTV.

Network Rail, which is delivering the Crossrail improvements in Ealing, will shortly get work underway to extend the platforms and construct the new footbridge. The new bay platform is scheduled to be brought into use in early 2016. Work will start to construct the new station from spring 2016 and take around a year to complete.

Crossrail has also been working with Ealing Council and Network Rail to help develop plans for improvements to the area around the new station that will provide better connection to other forms of transport, provide cycle parking and improve the surrounding pavements and roads.

Matthew White, Crossrail Surface Director, said: “The new ticket hall, footbridge and lifts will transform passengers’ experience of using West Ealing station. Once Crossrail opens fully in 2019, local people will be able to travel right through the centre of the capital making it quicker and easier to get to a range of destinations across London and the South East.”

Councillor Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, said: “We have already begun to see the benefits that Crossrail will bring to Ealing and now we can look forward to the arrival of the new West Ealing station. The high quality plans for the station will further improve the daily commute for our residents including better station access from the street, better accessibility to the station platforms via lifts and enhanced cycle parking to further encourage green travel in the borough.”

David Laing, Studio Director at Bennetts Associates, said: “The new building is the latest in a family of Bennetts Associates designed Crossrail stations across west London to be approved. The double height glazed concourse and canopied frontage will create a modern, fully accessible station that befits West Ealing’s improved connectivity with central London once Crossrail opens fully in 2019.”

From the end of 2017 West Ealing station will be run by Transport for London. From 2018, the new Crossrail trains will begin serving West Ealing and from 2019 passengers will be able to travel through the new Crossrail tunnels beneath central London. Passengers will be able to get to Bond Street in 13 minutes and Liverpool Street in 21 minutes, while the journey to Canary Wharf will take 27 minutes.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .