Topic: | Gunnersbury Overcrowding and the Sky Shuttle Bus | |
Posted by: | Andrew OSullivan | |
Date/Time: | 24/04/15 10:19:00 |
If the improvements in the District line are being put back then the already critical situation at Gunnersbury is where the network will break first so ways urgently need to be considered to as to how it can be dealt with. As well as a general increase in usage full occupancy at Chiswick Business Park and the building of the Brentford FC enabling development will mean that the already overcrowded station will become unusable. TfL are already considering a queueing system and we are well below what the ultimate peak usage is likely to be. The station will also be the starting point for people in Chiswick to link up with Crossrail. It would be nice to see the footbridge fiasco finally resolved but wrong to overestimate the amount that this will reduce the pressure on Gunnersbury - it doesn't actually make Chiswick Park station any nearer to the business park and a relatively small proportion of workers at the park use that station. One way to reduce overcrowding at Gunnersbury would be to encourage use of Turnham Green plus bus to get to the business park. Sky already lay on connections for staff and visitors between Osterley, Gunnersbury, Acton Town and Chiswick Park. If that service was extended to Turnham Green terminating at Bedford Corner with extra funding from the business park it would create an alternative route to the business park. A problem would be that anyone already on a district line train to Richmond is going to stay on board to Gunnersbury and will probably wait for one in preference to getting on a Ealing train. However if there was a Piccadilly line service to Turnham Green the quicker option eastbound would be to get off and take the shuttle. You would only need to extend the operating hours of the Piccadilly line at Turnham Green westbound in the morning and eastbound in the evening when it is relatively uncrowded so you would be making better use of existing capacity. |