Forum Topic

Footbridge at Chiswick Station

Oh how I wish they were putting in lifts at the same time as these works! So needed! Aldo at Gunnersbury and Kew Bridge stations, and especially at Barnes Bridge!

Petey Rosebar ● 2d19 Comments

I can see that some stuff has been done, but I walk past most days, and no sign of any workers so far  ... maybe I've just missed them by chance?

Davey Harris ● 2h

Planning has become incredibly complex and bureaucratic and so things get lost in implementation.  I'm told that Planning should be simplified while Building Control needs to be enhanced and diligent.  Simplifying planning will save time and money for everybody and result in focus on the important planning issues. However stronger and enhanced Building Control is needed to protect the public.At present a Planning Application requires Reports on every single aspect of creating the building before even the principle of allowing it has been agreed.  This makes the process of applying for Planning Permission very expensive and lengthy.  At conclusion a Planning Permission if granted will often be subject to endless Conditions - many of which can be challenged adding to the cost and time.  And the number of them makes it difficult and costly for a Local Authority to check compliance.  The answer is to focus Planning on Planning Issues such as Use, Size, Shape etc.  Leave Compliance with Building Control aspects such as Energy, Sustainability, Construction Methodology etc to an Enhanced Building Control Regime.  This will save Developers and Local Authorities massive amounts of money and shorten the time to certainty of planning acceptability.It seems normal nowadays to spend several million pounds making a substantial Planning Application and to take two or three years to get to a decision point when the application may be arbitrarily refused.  Planning therefore becomes a Developers' lottery.

Philippa Bond ● 10h

Yes, it is easy to quantify the demand from disabled people - the overall station usage. Overall station usage is based upon things like local population, the destinations served by the transport and places close to the station that will attract trips - employment, shops, entertainment venues or other attractions.All of those things apply equally to disabled and non-disabled people so higher station demand means higher demand by disabled people too.That is why Kew Bridge as the most used station on the Hounslow loop line is prioritised higher than Chiswick, the least used station on the line.Gunnersbury has also been identified as needing improvements.Improvements at Turnham Green will be dependent upon Piccadilly line signalling upgrades to permit Picadilly lien stopping at the station.None of Chiswick Park, South Acton, Stamford Brook have sufficient usage to prioritise them higher.

Michael Robinson ● 14h

The needs of disabled people aren't a 'vague unspecified' concept and it is quite easy to quantify it when it comes to public transport. The bus network is designed to ensure that the walking distance to the nearest stop is always below a certain number. All that needs to be done is that this concept of ease of access be extended across all public transport type and that total journey times between the bus network and tube and rail be a deciding factor.It is not as if your method of simply prioritising the stations with the largest usage is actually the way accessibility has been introduced in this borough. Although Kew Bridge is on the list published by the government recently, that brought no more money for making it step free and, even if that is eventually forthcoming, you haven't provided a good explanation as to why it had to wait so long. Kew Bridge, Gunnersbury, Chiswick Park, South Acton, Turnham Green, Stamford Brook all remain inaccessible and it seems to me that the best explanation as to why there is this cluster of stations which many disabled people can't use in this area is that priority is based not on need, not on station usage but on the people in power prioritising their own areas.

Diane Brown ● 15h

I remember it was one of the benefits from the new stadium for all of us. Of course things sometimes change because of officer delegated powers after approval by committee. Quite a lot of those have happened with Ballymore.My particular peeve is that I demanded at committee that the the green wall I had asked for on the horrible self-storage building at Syon Lane/GWR would be provided. The developer said oh yes, we liked that idea and have incorporated it. I reluctantly voted to approve. There was never a green wall and I doubt there was ever any intention to build one.We live and try to learn.

Guy Lambert ● 1d

So looking at numbers of people using the station is "deeply flawed" and instead, some vague, unspecified method that doesn't appear to have any quantified measure should be used instead.The numbers of people using the station is an indication of overall demand and that will apply to people both with and without access issues.Utimately it, doesn't matter what you think as Kew Bridge station is on the list of stations for consideration to have improved access that the government published a few weeks ago. Chiswick isn't.https://www.gov.uk/government/news/green-light-for-over-50-road-and-rail-upgrades-supporting-over-39000-new-homes-and-42000-jobs

Michael Robinson ● 1d

Basing priority simply on station usage numbers is a deeply flawed way to go about this - if you want to cater to the needs of people with disabilities, you should allocate resources to where that need is greatest.The distance between Kew Bridge and Brentford is not that great and anyone with a disability living to the west of Kew Bridge station will already be using the latter.For others for whom Kew Bridge is their local station, they  take the 267 direct into Hammersmith.The way you need to look at this is to think of it from the point of view of a person with mobility issues, you then have to wipe off your map anything which isn't accessible and that leaves you with your transport network. On this basis, Chiswick (not just the area around Chiswick station) is very poorly served.

Diane Brown ● 1d

Guy, the tunnel to the eastbound platform at Kew Bridge is definitely in use during Brentford games as fans are pointed in different directions depending on which platform and even if you haven't been to the game, you need to use the tunnel for the eastbound platform  - they don't allow access over the footbridge at the front. I don't know what times the tunnel opens and closes and why it isn't available other than during games.

Michael Robinson ● 1d

A ridiculous lost opportunity at Kew bridge. There is a tnnel from the station to the eastbound platform (but I'm not sure it is use) I wanted step free access from Kew Bridge road but was told it was impossible until the development by the westbound palatform. I said, OK lets do it as part of the development. But it wasn't. And it seems access to the bin area provided for the rebuilt terrace between the station and the Express was botusable because the trucks couldn't get inuntil the development took place. The development has happened but rubbish is still dumped on the pavement because the bin store is either still inaccessible or has been demolished.

Guy Lambert ● 1d

It is logical that priority is heavily based upon actual usage and forecast future use of a station.This is factual information while Francis's opinions are usually pulled from somewhere in his posterior.What would be your justification for prioritising Chiswick ahead of Kew Bridge, despite the fact more than 400,000 people a year use Kew Bridge than use Chiswick and Kew Bridge usage will be increasing even further with the new developments being built at the moment.

Michael Robinson ● 1d

Is it really the case that the powers that be give less priority to stations that are 'just for local residents'?Even if we have to accept that business users are more important, Brentford, Syon Lane and Isleworth stations are all  relatively close to each other so if any of them hadn't been made accessible, the alternative for someone needing step free access would have required a relatively short bus trip.However if you are close to Chiswick station, it is very difficult to find alternative accessible routes. Some people get the E3 to Acton Town but, even when there is not heavy traffic, this can add a huge amount to journey times.There is a point in 'lumping' all stations together because that is how people use public transport particularly when their options are constrained by personal needs. There has been no strategic thinking to take into account of the needs of disabled people across Chiswick. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that Francis is right to suggest that the roll out of accessibility is being driven by parochial political considerations.

Diane Brown ● 1d

Yes, it isn't a like for like comparison.  Chiswick is really just for local residents, there are no large businesses or new developments near the station and the population in the immediate area has been declining,While Isleworth, Syon Lane, Kew Bridge are used by people going to work at Sky, Chiswick Business Park etc. there are new developments close to the stations and the population is increasing.I'd suggest proximity to businesses, new developments and a growing population have a bigger impact upon usage than accessibility.Hardly a surprise if Chiswick is the bottom of the list in comparison to the others, is it?Kew Bridge now does have accessible access to the London-bound platform via the stadium development although not all the time.  So something that can be built upon rather than nothing.There is no pointing lumping underground and rail stations together as the funding is completely different.  Any plans for accessible access at Turnham Green will be dependent upon signalling upgrades to the Piccadilly line which could allow Piccadilly line stopping and a better case for accessible access. Turnham Green is middle ranking in terms of underground station usage (around 130-140th out of ~270 underground stations)

Michael Robinson ● 1d

A few points on these numbers:This isn't a like for like comparison as accessible stations will tend to have more usage that inaccessible ones.The busiest station is in a Chiswick ward and but other stations such as Syon Lane and Isleworth were given priority to be made step free.This is not the first feasibility study to be commissioned on Kew Bridge accessibility and the last one came to naught. There is no timetable for upgrade or indeed any guarantee that it will ever happen.The pattern of Chiswick being at the back of the queue for accessibility upgrades is duplicated on London Overground and London Underground.

Francis Rowe ● 1d

"So basically all the stations in wards which tend to vote Labour have step free access and all the stations in wards that tend to vote Conservative do not."Or perhaps Francis, the Office of Rail and Road 2024 annual station entry and exit data perhaps provides an alternative explanation - Chiswick has the lowest usage of stations on the  line to Hounslow,  by some margin.Barnes Bridge 797,568Brentford 983,680Chiswick 646,328Hounslow 823,164Isleworth 878,392Kew Bridge 1,057,046Syon Lane 806,180Kew Bridge is clearly the station with most need for improved access and in fact was on a recent list announced by the government although that just covers funding for plans, not the actual construction.

Michael Robinson ● 1d

I was referring to the stations under discussion rather than all the stations in the borough. However, even if some stations are not fully accessible in Hounslow town, there are other options which are whereas Chiswick has none.

Francis Rowe ● 1d

I think that Hounslow Station, like Chiswick, requires you to use a road bridge to reach the opposite platforms if you cannot manage the stairs on the station footbridge - not quite the same distance as Chiswick, though. So not "all" the stations in Labour wards have step-free access.

Richard Greenhough ● 1d

So basically all the stations in wards which tend to vote Labour have step free access and all the stations in wards that tend to vote Conservative do not.This politicisation of the process has created a situation where people with serious mobility issues have to go to Acton Town to find an accessible station.

Francis Rowe ● 1d

It's handy that there's a row of shops both sides of the footbridge ... saving the disabled from having to climb up and down this steps when needing local shopping.Going downline ... Kew Bridge has no lifts but Brentford > Isleworth and > Syon Lane do ...thank goodness

Jim Lawes ● 2d

What step-free access?  Good Grief.  It's only 2025!  There have been many Disability Discrimination Acts passed including in 1995.  It's interesting that some stations get them and with others the work which may be a once in a lifetime refurbishment is planned and done without enough of a chance to check whether there is any alternative which could be funded including crowd-funded and incorporated into the design to make the bridge accessible for all. There are also ways now of allowing cycles to be wheeled over these bridges.  There's a nice new cycle friendly bridge at the Battersea Power Station development leading down from the road to the riverside walkway but I don't believe they are even putting these in when they replace bridges.

Philippa Bond ● 2d