Mainline station is finally ready to open
Shepherds Bush Overground Station will finally open its doors to commuters on Sunday 28 September, just over a month before the new Westfield London shopping centre opens.
The Overground station will provide a new stop between Willesden Junction and Kensington Olympia on the north/south West London Line and will also be served by trains running between East Croydon and Milton Keynes.
It will be operated on behalf of TfL by London Overground, which runs most of the trains on the West London line. The station is fully accessible, with a low height ticket office and a lift on either side of the footbridge to provide step-free access to the platform. From October, TfL will run new three-car trains before extending them to four-car trains from 2010.
Ian Brown, Managing Director of Transport for London (TfL) London Rail, said: “This station will serve as a vital link between west London and the 19 other boroughs in which London Overground operates. The step free station provides passengers with easy access to the new Westfield shopping centre and other local job and leisure opportunities.”
The station was built by shopping centre developer Westfield and was nearly ready to open earlier this year. However, safety experts ruled that one of the platforms was 18 inches too narrow. The platform has since been widened.
Westfield Development Director, Iain Johnstone, said: “We have invested £170 million in improving public transport and have worked very closely with Hammersmith & Fulham Council and Transport for London to ensure the area has excellent and comprehensive public transport links. The new Overground station is a great benefit to the area and complements the other improvements taking place."
The Overground station is the first transport improvement to open in Shepherd's Bush, as the newly built Central Line station and brand new Wood Lane station – on the Hammersmith & City Line – are both expected to open next month.
The mainline station is also the first of two new stops on the West London Line with work already underway to build Imperial Wharf Station in Fulham.
10 September 2008