District Line goes down the tube

by Hammersmith and Fulham Press Office
08/06/2007

TFL admits to a decade of delays on the District Line

Residents are reeling from the shock admission by TFL that ‘improvement work’ on the District Line will not be completed until 2017. Red-faced TFL officials came clean last week and admitted that the works will take a minimum of 3,000 days.

Dr Daniel Coetzee, a teacher who works in Hammersmith, said, “There are certainly problems that I have noticed with the signalling towards Acton. Quite often students who come in from west London are delayed as a result of the stop start service.”

Council Leader, Stephen Greenhalgh is backing residents. He said, “Hard-pressed users of public transport in London are used to delays on the tube – but this is scandalous. I was at the briefing given by Tim O’Toole – TFL’s Managing Director – and came away feeling that our borough got a very raw deal.” 

According to the most recent census, Hammersmith and Fulham has the highest per population tube usage rate in London, with the District Line the most popular service. At peak times, the Wimbledon branch of the District Line operates at 92 per cent of total capacity. 

Cllr Greenhalgh continues, “It is  unacceptable that this work is not even scheduled to begin for another five years. Our borough seems to be languishing at the bottom of the list of priorities, despite the acute nature of the problems with the District Line.

“It is bad enough having to endure the inevitable station closures and disruption when the works commence, but the fact that local people are expected to put up with the current woeful service for so long before anything is done is deplorable.”

H&F Council is campaigning for longer trains to be introduced – many of the trains operated have scope for an extra carriage. The council would also like to see Piccadilly Line trains stop at Ravenscourt Park to alleviate some of the pressure on the District Line.