New Overground station for Shepherds Bush
by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
05/09/2008
A brand new Overground station will help get things moving around Shepherds Bush when it opens later this month.
Shepherds Bush Overground Station will be open to commuters from Sunday 28 September, just over a month before the new Westfield London shopping centre opens its doors. The centre – which is the second biggest shopping mall in Britain – is expected to generate an additional 70,000 commuters every week.
Councillor Harry Phibbs, H&F Council Assistant Cabinet Member for Environment, says, “We want to create a borough of opportunity in Hammersmith & Fulham and a central part of achieving that will be a functioning, 21st Century transport system. The new Overground station will play a major part in improving the transport links for shoppers and local residents around Shepherds Bush.”
The Overground station is the first in a series of transport improvements in Shepherds Bush with the newly refurbished Central Line station and brand new Wood Lane station – on the Hammersmith & City Line – expected to open next month.
The Overground station will provide a new stop between Willesden Junction and Kensington Olympia on the north/south West London Line and will also be served by trains between East Croydon and Milton Keynes.
Ian Brown, Managing Director of Transport for London (TfL) London Rail, said, “This station will serve as a vital link between west London and the 19 other boroughs in which London Overground operates. This step free station provides passengers with easy access to the new Westfield shopping centre and other local job and leisure opportunities.”
The station will be operated on behalf of TfL by London Overground, who run most of the trains on the West London line. It is fully accessible, with a low height ticket office and two lifts either side of the footbridge to provide step-free access to the platform. From October, TfL will run new three-car trains before extending them to four-car trains from 2010.
The station was built by shopping centre developer Westfield under a planning agreement negotiated by H&F Council. The station was nearly ready to open earlier this year but, at the eleventh hour, safety experts ruled that one of the platforms was 18 inches too narrow. The platform has now been widened so it is the correct size.
Westfield Development Director, Iain Johnstone, said, “Westfield recognises the importance of transport infrastructure in the local area. We have invested £170 million in improving public transport and have worked very closely with Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Transport for London to ensure the area has excellent and comprehensive public transport links. The new Overground station is a great benefit to the area and complements the other improvements taking place."
The station is the first of two new stops on the West London Line with work already underway to build Imperial Wharf Station in time for a 2010 opening.
