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Ealing Broadway Crossrail station initial design | |
Ealing Broadway station has been a significant element
in the growth of the town centre since it opened 170 years ago.
The coming of Crossrail will mark a further point in its development,
which could have as great an impact on Ealing as any of the other stages in its history.
SEC's Vision statement identified several problems:
- The station is a terminus for two underground lines, and a stop for up to eight trains per hour
on the Paddington line. Entrance and exit to the station are overcrowded and dangerous at peak times,
with no step-free access to platforms or booking hall from street level.
- The only drop-off and pick-up facility for passengers from Ealing Broadway
station is inadequate.
- The taxi rank outside Ealing Broadway station can't be reached without crossing one or two roads.
- There are no legal pick-up and drop-off points for mini-cabs.
- The bus stops are not concentrated at the station and are spread out over Haven Green,
The Broadway and The Mall. There is no bus station even though it is a terminus for nine routes that run daily.
The station will need to be reconstructed to meet the needs of Crossrail,
due to start service between late 2016 and early 2018. Probable time for the rebuild is between 2013 to 2016.
Station design is in the hands of Crossrail. A complication is that the main line areas
are owned by Network Rail, while the Underground sections are the responsibility of Transport for London. The station
is managed by First Great Western, while the buildings above (the shops and Villiers House, now empty) are leased by Glenkerrin UK Ltd,
who also control the forecourt. Ealing Council is only responsible for the public roads beyond the forecourt.
Early designs (see picture above right) were criticised by the independent panel set up by Crossrail in response to calls from
English Heritage, for not providing scope for future development. However, more recent designs have still
dealt only with the issues of access and no comprehensive redevelopment scheme
has yet been proposed despite a detailed study by engineers Halcrow into ways of providing a full transport interchange.
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Station interchange options
SEC presented a summary of its views on Ealing Broadway station to the Council's specialist committee on Crossrail on Tuesday 26 January.
SEC's full report, submitted last November, urges the need for a full public transport interchange at the station, and for any development to protect the surrounding conservation area, particularly Haven Green open space.
The summary of its objectives, which it wants the Council to adopt, are as follows:
The station is a major gateway to Ealing, and should be part of the commercial and retail offering of the town centre. The opportunity provided by the need to rebuild for Crossrail should be taken to redevelop the whole site, including the realisation of longstanding ambitions for an integrated transport interchange. By this we mean:
- A set of facilities to enable transfer between trains, underground, buses, bicycles, taxis and cars and mini-cabs (for drop-off and pickup).
- Covered and step-free transfer between all forms of transport, without any road to cross.
- Covered waiting areas for all forms of transport, with travel information, convenience shops and public toilets.
- Short and convenient walking routes between all the forms of transport.
- Convenient access point(s) for pedestrians from surrounding areas.
- Ample covered cycle storage facilities.
- Enough capacity to cater for at least 15 years growth in passenger numbers following completion.
- Staff facilities for underground, bus and taxi drivers.
At least part of the interchange will inevitably be located on the station site. Other parts could be above or to some side of it, although they should not be on Haven Green. The whole should be of an architecturally high quality and pleasing design that enhances the Conservation Area. A wider redevelopment scheme of the whole site including Villiers House should be a regeneration priority.
The full report can be seen here.
1 February 2010
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