New rail link replaces ghost bus

Friday March 19, 2010

Goodbye ghost bus. Hello train service. That’s the news as passengers will finally be able to hit the rails between Shepherds Bush and Wandsworth.

Southern Trains will start running a train between Wandsworth Road and Ealing Broadway – via Kensington Olympia and Shepherds Bush – from May 24, following a year of pressure from Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council and local passenger groups.

The trains replace the ill-fated ‘ghost-bus’, which carried virtually no passengers, and was allegedly commissioned by the Department for Transport (DfT) so they could claim that a service still operates between the two destinations.

Despite only running on a Tuesday, in DfT world the empty coach allowed officials to argue that the train line had remained open and avoid a public consultation on closing unused sections of track.

But, from May, new diesel trains will make one journey in each direction on weekdays via Kensington Olympia and Shepherds Bush.

The council’s Cabinet Member for Environment has welcomed the move but says the next step must be for the trains to become more frequent and stop at more stations.

Cllr Nicholas Botterill says: “This is a victory for common sense and will help ease pressure on our busy transport network. Linking Olympia and Shepherds Bush to Ealing Broadway is a quick win which will benefit the whole of west London.

“While this is clearly a move in the right direction, the next step will be for the service to also call at Clapham High Street, Imperial Wharf, West Brompton and Acton Main Line as soon as possible.”

Mark Balaam, Chairman if the West London Line Group, added: “We wish the service every success in its role as the first regular local orbital rail link for many years between south and west London. This would seem to be directly in line with current policies encouraging orbital rail travel across Greater London.”