Turnham Green Tube Consultation Begins

TfL wants to know if there is sufficient demand for a Piccadilly line stop

The official consultation on the issue of the Piccadilly line service at Turnham Green starts today (27th August).

Transport for London (TfL) are trying to find out if there is sufficient demand for an increased service at the station in Chiswick and response to the consultation will be an important factor in their final decision.

Local campaigners have been lobbying for decades to get a full service at Turnham Green and many believe this is a significant step on the road to achieving their aim.

A Piccadilly line train speeds through Turnham Green

TfL have said that they plan to upgrade the Piccadilly line with new trains and signalling. This upgrade is in the planning stages and the exact dates when it will take place have not been decided but it is likely to be complete in the early 2020s. As they develop the signalling and trains they would be able to incorporate an upgraded service at Turnham Green in their plans.

An expanded service at Turnham Green has received cross-party support and members of all the major parties put pressure on Boris Johnson to honour his commitment to consult tube users on the issue.

Local MP, Mary Macleod said, “I was delighted to launch the consultation today to get residents’ voices heard on stopping at Turnham Green. I really want Chiswick people to get involved in this consultation and I would encourage everyone to sign the petition and get in touch with TfL. I absolutely believe that this change is achievable and will both improve the lives of local people and invigorate businesses”.

She has also launched a separate online petition on the issue, the results of which will be handed to the Mayor. This morning her recently formed 'Turnham Green Action Team' were at the station highlighting to commuters the beginning of the consultation.

Mary Macleod and her 'Turnham Green Action Team'

Mary said: “It is crucial that as many Chiswick residents as possible let the Mayor and TfL know what they think - the more people that respond the better! It is clear that thousands of residents support the Piccadilly line stopping at Turnham Green. Local residents deserve the best transport links and I am determined to make that a reality.”

Murad Qureshi, a London Assembly Member for Labour said,“I welcome the positive written response from the Mayor that l got last month about the Piccadilly line stopping at Turnham Green tube station and am glad to see TfL running a consultation until the 7th of October. It is now up to residents in Chiswick to make the best case possible for why the Piccadilly line tube should stop in Turnham Green rather than rushing through three tube stops in Chiswick, as we have at present.“

He raised the issue last month in a formal written question to the Mayor.

Local Lib Dem Councillor Gary Malcolm, who has been a long-term campaigner for an improved service at the station said, “It is now absolutely crucial that Southfield residents tell TfL that they need the Piccadilly Line to stop 7 days a week, and at peak and non peak time. Like a dog with a bone we will keep pressing until this happens.”

Local Lib Dem team outside the station

He has issued a 'How To' guide on filling in the consultation survey. He says that question number 8 is unnecessarily loaded stressing the negatives (which are not necessarily true) without giving the positive aspects. This might prompt a person who is in favour of an improved service at Turnham Green to put 'No' when they mean 'Yes'. There are fears that TfL have included this question in this format in the hope that it will allow them to claim that support for more Piccadilly line trains in Chiswick is lukewarm.

The consultation runs until 7th October.

August 27, 2013