Six months after opening – public transport takes the Westfield strain
80 per cent of shoppers going to the new Westfield mega-mall travel by public transport latest figures reveal.
Westfield London caused gridlock on the roads around Shepherds Bush when it opened on October 30, 2008. Roads and residential parking spaces were hit – prompting the council to take urgent action to protect local drivers. But six months on the two new rail stations, new bus garage and new bus routes are doing their job and figures show just 20 per cent of customers travelling by car.
Councillor Nicholas Botterill, Hammersmith & Fulham Council Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “It is true that there were fears over the number of cars expected to clog up our, already struggling, local road infrastructure, But, six months after the opening, it looks as if the new Tube and Overground stations, which this council negotiated out of Westfield, are keeping things moving nicely around Shepherds Bush.”
A brand new Hammersmith & City line station – called Wood Lane – was the first to be built on an existing line for more than 70 years. The original Shepherds Bush station on the Central line was re-vamped and a new Overground station on the West London Line also opened in time for the unveiling of Britain’s third largest shopping mall. A new bus station with three new or extended bus routes also gives shoppers an alternative to driving, although there are 4,500 parking spaces.
Cllr Botterill continues, “Traffic is like water – it tends to find its own level. While there is an issue with road capacity in the area the public transport improvements really are coming into their own and adding much needed extra capacity.”
The good news for commuters is also matched by equally good figures for job-seekers. Research from 2007 predicted that 7,200 jobs would be created when everything is open at Europe’s largest inner-city shopping centre So far, 13 per cent of Westfield London jobs have been taken up by H&F residents.
Meanwhile critics who claimed that neighbouring town centres would be hit negatively by Westfield may have food for thought as latest figures from the King’s Mall Shopping Centre in Hammersmith showed visitor numbers up 3 per cent, from 632,496 to 651,250, compared to the same month last year.
Cllr Botterill concluded: “Local residents are making the most of the jobs bonanza created by Westfield and we have not seen a negative affect on areas like Hammersmith. We have done everything possible to get as many local jobseekers into the jobs created by Westfield London and more than 1,500 local residents have taken advantage of pre-employment training given to them to get a foot on the employment ladder of opportunity.”
A cinema and Britain’s most modern library including a new work zone – a facility dedicated to helping residents secure jobs – will open at Westfield later this year.
