Policy T1
Transport infrastructure
The council will work with strategic partners to deliver new and improved transportation infrastructure, services and technology, including active travel facilities, improved accessibility and connectivity across the borough.
1. Strategic transport infrastructure
The council will:
a) seek to maximise the opportunities for infrastructure improvements offer to support the regeneration of our town centres and the delivery of sustainable, higher density developments in the vicinity of new or improved stations, transport hubs and services.
b) work with developers and strategic partners to secure funding for transport infrastructure improvements that support the delivery of high levels of sustainable development in appropriate locations.
c) work with OPDC, HS2 Ltd, Network Rail, TfL and neighbouring boroughs to ensure that the new HS2 station at Old Oak Common is well connected by public transport and active travel to the rest of the borough, and create new routes and connections from Old Oak West and the Old Oak Station area towards Old Oak North, Old Oak South, Scrubs Lane, the Grand Union Canal, Kensal Canalside Opportunity Area, and to the emerging White City Innovation District.
d) work with strategic partners to progress the development of a rail connection from the Old Oak Common area to the West London Line and Clapham Junction.
e) work with TfL to secure increased capacity and reliability on the Piccadilly and District Lines; and Network Rail and TfL to ensure step-free access for all rail and tube stations within the borough.
f) work with strategic partners to enhance and improve the capacity of the West London Line and the stations on it between Clapham Junction and Willesden Junction to accommodate increased services and growth an investigate options for an additional station at the southern end of Scrubs Lane.
g) work with OPDC to secure funding commitments to deliver placemaking and improved transport linkages from the OPDC area into Hammersmith and Fulham. This includes improved bus and rail infrastructure, road infrastructure, pedestrian and cycle connections.
h) work with OPDC, TfL and neighbouring boroughs on the development of a Transport Masterplan/Strategy for the north of the borough that considers transport accessibility and connectivity seamlessly across all planning authority areas.
i) reduce traffic dominance in Hammersmith Town Centre and create a more people focused place through implementation of the recommendations set out in the Hammersmith Town Centre SPD.
j) reduce traffic dominance in Shepherds Bush Green and transform the public realm into a people focused place.
k) work with Government, the Mayor and TfL to secure funding for the full restoration of Hammersmith Bridge, and in the meantime ensure it remains open to pedestrian and cycle traffic.
l) seek increased use of the River Thames for passenger services and freight use where this is compatible with the capacity of the connecting road network and meets environmental concerns.
m) secure contributions towards the delivery of the strategic transport infrastructure proposals mentioned above.
n) not grant planning permission for proposals which are contrary to the safeguarding of strategic transport infrastructure projects identified in the London Plan.
2. Borough wide infrastructure:
The council will seek to ensure that development contributes to:
a) infrastructure and public realm to support safe active travel and meet our Vision Zero goals, including measures to promote road danger reduction and to encourage more walking, cycling and wheeling
b) infrastructure to support the transition to cleaner fuels, such as electric vehicle charging infrastructure to ensure there are adequate levels of provision for residents, businesses and visitors (including buses, taxis and delivery and service vehicles).
c) the delivery of highway and other public realm greening measures to contribute to climate resilience, including tree planting, rain gardens and sustainable drainage systems.
d) the delivery of measures that rebalance the public realm away from vehicles to places for people including but not limited to; vehicle access restrictions, Neighbourhood Improvement Schemes, removal of traffic gyratory systems, and reallocation of carriageway space for other purposes that support active travel, climate resilience or social interactions.
e) improved management of e-bike and e-scooter hire schemes through the expansion of micro-mobility parking hubs throughout the borough so that every household is within 250 metres of one;
f) accessibility improvements on the highway and transport network for all, particularly people with disabilities;
g) improvements to bus network infrastructure and services, and tube and train station improvements to assist with the delivery of the transport projects identified in the Infrastructure Delivery Plan and Transport Strategy.
h) seek to ensure that development contributes to the delivery of a safe and continuous cycle route network as identified in future Active Travel Strategy.
i) expansion of the car club network including new bays or floating vehicles in the borough, including the provision of electric car club vehicles where possible.
11.0 The construction and opening of the High Speed 2 (HS2) rail station at Old Oak Common that will be terminus for HS2 for up to a decade before Euston Station is completed will be an enormous catalyst for change and growth in the north of the borough. This station will be one of the most well-connected rail stations in the country enabling people to get to Heathrow Airport in 10 minutes, Liverpool Street and Reading in 20 minutes, Birmingham Interchange in 31 minutes and Birmingham City Centre in 40 minutes. However, there are no current plans for a direct rail link from the station to anywhere else in the borough and the Old Oak Common area risks being disconnected from the rest of Hammersmith & Fulham without the provision of new rapid transit links. The policies in the local plan will seek to support the provision of new and improved transport connections to the Old Oak Common area.
11.1 There is considerable new development underway alongside the West London Line corridor in the borough with developments such as Olympia at an advanced stage and Earls Court underway yet the transport connections serving these locations are already at capacity and many of the stations are not fully accessible to all our residents and visitors. To enable this corridor to accommodate more growth sustainably will require an upgrade of the existing transport infrastructure to support higher frequency services and increased capacities as well as ensuring step free access for all. The policies in the local plan will seek to support the provision of upgraded transport infrastructure and increased capacity along the West London Line Corridor.
11.2 Our two main town centre and regeneration areas are Shepherds Bush/White City and Hammersmith Town Centre but both areas are seen to underperform and don't currently reach their potential. This is primarily because they are designed around the car and experience all day traffic congestion despite the fact walking and cycling is the dominant way of moving about for most visitors and residents. The catalyst for regenerating and enabling higher densities of development in these two locations will be their transformation from places designed around a traffic dominated gyratory to places designed around people and active travel. The policies in this local plan will seek to enable the transformation of these town centres into people focused places through the removal of the gyratory and reduced dominance of road traffic.
11.3 The delivery of new and improved transport infrastructure is necessary across the borough to sustainably accommodate new development and meet the goals of the London Plan, Mayors Transport Strategy and the borough's own strategic objectives whether it be: to enable a shift from private vehicles to active and sustainable modes; or to support the uptake of cleaner vehicles; or adapt the transport and highway network to a changing climate. Strategic transport infrastructure improvements are essential to facilitate the sustainable growth envisaged in this Local Plan period.
11.4 The Mayor of London, through the London Plan and Mayor's Transport Strategy provides strategic policy direction for Hammersmith and Fulham's Local Plan transport policies. Transport for London (TfL) is the Strategic Transport Authority for the Greater London area including the Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham as well as being the Highway Authority for the Transport for London Road Network within the borough which includes the A4, A40 and A3220. Hammersmith & Fulham Council is the Highway Authority for the rest of the road network within the borough.
11.5 The Mayor's Transport Strategy sets out the transport principles of good growth including good access to public transport, High-density, mixed-use developments, Inclusive, accessible design and carbon-free travel
11.6 This policy for the improvement of existing transport infrastructure and the delivery of new transport infrastructure reflects the objectives of the Mayor's Transport Strategy and the Council's Local Implementation Plan 3 and the priorities of the Council's emergingTransport Strategy.
11.7 The progress in the development of the High Speed 2 rail line is welcomed and the Council's focus in this Local Plan is to ensure that the benefits of this infrastructure are available to residents and businesses in the borough through improved transport connections to the Old Oak Common Area
11.8 The reduction of traffic dominance in Hammersmith town centre is essential to the successful delivery of the vision set out in Hammersmith Town Centre Supplementary Planning Document. 'The SPD therefore sets out a transitional approach to realise the vision for hammersmith while the flyover is in place for the short-term, but enables the delivery of the flyunder in the longer-term once appropriate funding is secured.'
11.9 The extended closure of Hammersmith Bridge has created a barrier to access to and from Hammersmith Town Centre.
11.10 The reduction of traffic dominance in Shepherds Bush is a key feature in the placemaking approach for the White City Opportunity Area, as referenced in Upstream, the Council's industrial strategy 'we will consider reimagining the use of some road spaces to put pedestrians front and centre'.
11.11 The council's emerging Transport Strategy will provide further direction going forward, and early work is focussing on creating inclusive places and encouraging active travel to further encourage and enable walking, cycling and wheeling. There is a programme of public realm improvements to town and local centres, and the White City and Hammersmith Regeneration areas. An updated Streetsmart Manual will be published in Summer 2025 to provide technical standards derived from strategic objectives to ensure that the council's core design principles are followed, and that the public realm is safe, universally accessible, maintainable, sustainable, and capable of addressing carbon and climate challenges. The Streetsmart Manual provides detailed guidance and includes footways, sustainable streets, cycle lanes, traffic calming, and providing for vehicle parking design and EV-charging points.
11.12 The London Plan requires this Local Plan to safeguard provision strategic infrastructure projects in Policy T3 and Table 10.1.
11.13 These borough wide policies align with the London Plan requirement promote and demonstrate the application of the Mayor's Healthy Streets Approach to: improve health and reduce health inequalities; reduce car dominance, ownership and use, road danger, severance, vehicle emissions and noise; increase walking, cycling and public transport use; improve street safety, comfort, convenience and amenity ; and support these outcomes through sensitively designed freight facilities.
11.14 The overarching aim of the Mayor's Transport Strategy is for 80% of all trips in London to be made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2041 compared to 63% today. The LIP3 specific targets for H&F were 82% by 2021 and 89% by 2041. The percentage of trips made by borough residents by active and sustainable modes in 2023/24 was 79% meaning we did not meet the 2021 target and are not on trajectory to meet the 2041 target.
11.15 Areas of the borough [currently] having poorer access to public transport are identified in PTAL mapping- see map adjacent.