On the Buses in W12

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Seven figure sum to be spent during tube closure

Transport for London is attempting to appease angry Shepherd's Bush commuters by coughing up a seven figure sum to pay for extra buses.

Shepherd's Bush Central Line station is to close on Saturday 2 February for up to eight months. It will re-open to co-incide with the launch of the White City Shopping Centre.

Developers of the shopping centre, Westfield, are funding the underground works, and also part funding the 148 replacement bus service to Notting Hill Gate.

Transport for London (TfL) has agreed to run ten extra 148 buses during all peak hours and six extra buses during all off-peak hours

These buses will carry passengers from Shepherd's Bush to Notting Hill Gate tube station - the next large station on the central line.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council says it is trying to get the station back up and running sooner. .

Leader of Hammersmith and Fulham Council Conservative Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh said: "We have invited TfL to a transport summit to bottom out a range of transport foul-ups in the borough. We will be demanding urgent answers on whether the eight month works can be condensed in anyway. TfL should be paying contractors to work around the clock if necessary."

Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush Labour MP Andy Slaughter wrote to TfL last week in a last ditch attempt to persuade them to delay closing the station.

He said: "This closure is inconvenient to your current passengers and potentially ruinous for existing local businesses. The near unanimous view of the thousands of constituents who have contacted me, is that any closure should be postponed until the other transport improvements in Shepherd's Bush are completed.

"The Central Line station will be only one of several routes into and out of the area. The delayed Overground service, improved Hammersmith & City Line, new bus services and stations and better pedestrian and vehicle access will all be completed by the end of this year. It is the overwhelming view locally that only after this should any closure be considered."

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Emma Midgley

 

February 1, 2008