Forum Topic

Closure of Shepherd's Bush Tube Station

You might not know that the Central line Station is closing for 8 months from February next year.  This has only just been sprung on us commuters by TfL (I live in Acton, but have always used Shepherd's Bush, via the 207, actually my easiest station to get to).There are so many reasons not to close the station.  Please read my letter to TfL(and the Mayor and Peter Hendy)below for my views.  If you agree, please write to them too, plus the local press and politicians.Thanks,SeanDear TfL/Mayor/Commissioner, I am outraged at the plan to close Shepherd’s Bush Central Line Station from February for 8 months (or more probably, especially as no specific reopening date has been given).There are many questioned to be answered on this matter by you.  Most importantly, are the actions of TfL inspired by the interests of the travelling and wider public, or by pressure from the shopping centre developer?  I am sure that the new development will be a great benefit to the economy of West London, but to penalise local people, businesses and commuters in order to expedite access to a shopping centre is unacceptable (and have we any assurances that the shopping centre will open on time anyway?).    Closing the station for such a long period will inconvenience millions of passengers; it will also affect the livelihoods of the small independent businesses nearby, and could even force the departure of larger players such as the cinema and other big stores.  Will this inevitable damage to the economy of Shepherd’s Bush be reversed the moment the station re open?  Clearly no, by then, if a cinema is closed, it is closed, and it would take a hell of an effort to restore such amenities (which might be beneficial for the new shopping centre, providing profitable alternatives, moving the centre of gravity to their premises out of the Uxbridge Road).I am also disappointed that TfL has sprung this news on passengers so near to the closure date, no doubt a fait accompli which any amount of public outcry cannot change (and the contracts have been signed presumably?).  And you haven’t yet even spelt out what the alternatives for passengers will be.I suggest that you think again about the totally closure of the station.  Escalators can be replaced one by one, as is done at most other stations (including those with only two escalators and one fixed stairway between them, as at Shepherd’s Bush), and surely it is not beyond the wit of your civil engineers and architects top design a building plan that retains the shell of the current station, ensuring minimal closures for the general public.If you do go ahead of this egregious closure, you must supply alternatives beyond a pathetic shuttle bus.  Bus routes must be extended to Notting Hill, Holland Park and White City where possible.  Buses such as the 70 and 266 (from my point of view in Acton, as a daily 207-Central Line commuter) must be massively augmented to cope with the displacement of passengers using the 207 (for example) to get to the station (and frankly both those routes, particularly the 266 need a general upgrade, the reliability and frequencies on weekends can be shocking, and crowding is endemic)I call on local community, business and political organisations, as well as individuals, the local authority and the press to join with me in calling for a rethink, and certainly for the best possible alternatives for the travelling public if the closure must go ahead.  Mayor Livingston and Transport Commissioner Peter Hendy should put the public first and put a halt to this unnecessary closure, we don’t need a new Central Line station; we do need to be able to get to work and home everyday.  I am sure that the vast majority of passengers would be happy with escalator works and the station resembling a building site for a year or more, even if that means forgoing a fancy new station (and I cant believe that the new overground station can’t be built without closing the Central line).The interests of the taxpayers, fare payers and the local community should be TfL’s first priority, and the closure of a major tube station for such a long time is most certainly against these interest.Yours sincerely,Sean Rillo RaczkaActon, W3Cc: local press, local political representatives; chamber of commerce; transport groups

Sean Rillo Raczka ● 6401d8 Comments

Seems to me that approx £36,000,000* of passengers money (at a very conservative estimate) should buy some consideration from the developers.*(6 months x 30 x 20,000 x £5.00 x 2)

Stephen Hill ● 6367d

There are always two sides to a story and the guy has got a real point. You never know, the 'planners' may be prodded into thinking that there are more ways of skining a cat than than blowing through a straw up its nether regions.It's of no import to me, I live up in North Wales, but you see poor 'design' solutions everyday that have not been thought. Look at the crass destruction of Hammersmith by the fly over. Ditto the by-pass from Newcastle to the coast via Byker. There are so many ill thought out plans and they all diminish the quality of life sither in the short, medium or long term. \My view is that if you've got an itch scratch it and if it makes sense then we who pay the price should always support the pointcheersSteve

Stephen Hill ● 6367d

There are always two sides to a story and the guy has got a real point. You never know, the 'planners' may be prodded into thinking that there are more ways of skining a cat than than blowing through a straw up its nether regions.It's of no import to me, I live up in North Wales, but you see poor 'design' solutions everyday that have not been thought. Look at the crass destruction of Hammersmith by the fly over. Ditto the by-pass from Newcastle to the coast via Byker. There are so many ill thought out plans and they all diminish the quality of life sither in the short, medium or long term. \My view is that if you've got an itch scratch it and if it makes sense then we who pay the price should always support the pointcheersSteve

Stephen Hill ● 6367d

Article below - no details of campaign contact details etc. thoughhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7175410.stm

Andy Jones ● 6378d

There's even a Facebook campaign!http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19664727640Personally, I'm not against the closure. I think it will be a good thing in the long run but if you want to waste your breath campaigning against it then go ahead.

Jennifer Platell ● 6396d

I think you are naive if you think this would be a 10 minute delay!  The displacement of people before they get to Shepherd’s Bush will be substantial, and will have adverse affects on local bus routes (which is why we must campaign for these to be improved, which they rarely are with ‘temporary’ works, TfL preferring, due to contracts and suchlike, wholly separate rail replacement services), before we even get to Shepherd’s Bush itself.  Imagine the rail replacement ride to White City or Holland Park in 8.30am/6pm rush hour traffic, imagine the queue for the lifts at Holland Park (imagine having simply to wait for another bus on that horribly crowded stretch of pavement every day for nearly a year!).I’m for job creation and local regeneration, but I didn’t ask for this new shopping centre and neither did many local people.  Just because Westfield advertises the fact that they are generously giving the local community some kind of transport provision, doesn’t mean we have to be grateful.  They will actually benefit financially from it in the mid/long term, you are a commercial entity and therefore do not independently serve the interests of the public (as TfL should).The issue of the appropriateness of this huge development is also arises.  Do we need a new Bond Street in Shepherd’s Bush (who will go)?  Do we want an extra stop on the Hammersmith and City Line (and can the already rammed full public transport, which cannot be improved, such as the tube, be able to cope with the extra people from across London, let alone the extra traffic this will generate)?  On these points, we probably either say yes, or we don’t mind because of the employment and regeneration benefits of the scheme.More worrying is the possible adverse effects on the local business community, and the community in the broader sense.  I would like to continue going to the cinema in the centre of town, I would like the restaurants on the Uxbridge Road to stay in business.  I don’t want to live my life in a shopping centre (I even buy thing in the market on occasion, shock horror!).  But actually all this is immaterial to the main point, even if you are the biggest fan of the shopping centre you must be able to see that an abrupt closure is unfair to commuters and detrimental to Shepherd’s Bush as a whole.I personally can wait a little bit longer for the new overground and bus station to be completed and I can also say that my Grandparents lived above the pie shop on the Goldhawk Road (which trumps your several years I think!), not that that actually matters one bit.  The superb new bus stations will actually mean that the 207, for example, will no longer stop outside the W12 shopping centre, making shopping there and attending the cinema less attractive.  I’m all for an overground station and bus station, but I don’t think this should come at the expense of such a massive disruption, and frankly how can we really expect this shiny new interchange to be completer in just 10 months, I have my doubts.Actually, I am considering my job due to this news, this could add 30 minutes or more to my journey time, and going out will be come a total pain (waiting at East Acton for the erratic 70 or North Acton for a long 266 journey, if I don’t fancy an extra shuttle bus that is).Change happens, and I’m sure in a few years the Westfield development will be absolutely a part of our West London landscape, but lets also consider local businesses in the meantime, and not least (from my self interested point of view), the needs of the many commuters who use the station.  I am confident that escalators could be replaces as in others stations if the will was there, that a new overground station could be built adjacent to the Central Line station, and that a bus station can be relatively easily sited conveniently for them both.  This haste seems to have thrust onto TfL by commercial, not public, interests.

Sean Rillo Raczka ● 6401d

Sean - I don't think there's much point in insinuating that Westfield might perhaps be involved in this.Most people living in Shepherd's Bush for the last few years will be aware that the redevelopment of the Central Line Tube Station is entirely due to Westfield - there are even large posters all around the site proclaiming this.It won't be just to "improve access to the shopping centre". It will integrate the tube station into a fantastic, modern transport interchange, allowing people to transfer between the tube, the Overground and busses in just a few steps without even getting wet! I can't wait!Westfield are also responsible for the entirely new tube station being built on the Hammersmith & City Line, the completely new train station, and two vast new bus terminals. And, incidentally, they are building a state-of-the-art 14 screen cinema, too!I agree that we will need busses to shuttle us on to the neighbouring Central Line stations, but, when it comes to the most significant development in the history of the Shepherd's Bush area, I think that leaving home 10 minutes earlier is an acceptable price to pay. Speaking as some one who has lived in Shepherd's Bush for several years, and hopes to continue doing so for some years to come, 8 months is not a terribly long time in the greater scheme of things.Have a look at http://westfield.holler.co.uk for more details.

Edward Noel ● 6401d

This is going to cause a lot of inconvenience to those who use SB central line station (including myself)and I hope they do put on extra buses during what seems to me an uduly long closure period.

Caroline MacMillan ● 6401d