SWELTRAC Study Identifies Interchange Improvements at 17 Stations in the SWT Franchise Area

16/10/2002

Consulting engineers Parkman Ltd have identified over £2.2m worth of potential interchange improvement schemes in a study covering seventeen stations throughout south and west London, on the South West Trains (SWT) rail network.

The aim of the study, commissioned by SWELTRAC (South and West London Transport Conference), was to investigate the potential for improving the approaches and facilities at the stations, with consideration being given to interchange between rail services and other modes such as bus services, cycling and walking. This is all part of SWELTRAC’s vision of helping to persuade people to use public transport and use their cars less.

As part of the information gathering process, detailed station, pedestrian and lighting audits, together with one to one meetings and discussions with key stakeholders such as SWT, Railtrack, the Strategic Rail Authority, Local Authorities and London Buses were held. By use of a framework, addressing key criteria such as safety and security, environmental issues, and the needs of mobility-impaired passengers, each station was then ranked in terms of the availability and standard of the existing facilities, which was used in the process of identifying and prioritising potential improvement measures.

The study also took full account of, and complemented the potential scheme improvements coming forward as part of SWT’s newly extended franchise, giving particular attention to matters such as pedestrian routes to / from local amenities, the proximity of local bus and cycle routes and the lighting and security in the vicinity of the stations.

The measures proposed vary in scale from pedestrian signage between the stations and key land uses, to a new pedestrian footbridge at Hounslow Station.

The detail and prioritisation of the schemes, including SWT’s franchise schemes, was considered in a one-day workshop, attended by all the key stakeholders. Using an assessment framework, improvement schemes were prioritised in terms of the severity of the existing problems, the transport policy benefits accruing from their introduction, their ease of implementation, and outline cost/funding sources. The timescales for implementation were also taken into account, ranging from early wins to be carried out in less than a year, to longer-term proposals of 7 to 10 years.

The outcome of the study has been the identification of a large number of schemes, many of which have been prioritised for implementation by SWELTRAC, with others to be pursued over the next three years. They will help to attract people to the evolving South London Metro, of which the first pilots will be launched next year.