Step Free Turnham Green Becomes More Distant Prospect

Not even on list of stations where feasibility study is being undertaken

The steps from the westbound platform at Turnham Green

July 23, 2023

The prospect of full accessibility for any public transport station in Chiswick appears to have faded further into the distance.

Transport for London (TfL) recently announced that ten more London Underground stations are to be made step free following a consultation on accessibility held last November.

These included White City, Northolt and North Acton but no station in the W4 area including Turnham Green.

In addition, TfL has confirmed that several other stations are having feasibility studies undertaken to see if step free access could be being provided. TfL says it is continuing to actively engage local authorities, developers and businesses in other areas of London to explore what options are available to introduce further step-free access to stations. It names stations including Boston Manor, East Putney, Hatton Cross, North Ealing, Park Royal, Rickmansworth, Ruislip and Snaresbrook as sites were feasibility work could be progressed should the right amount of investment be provided by these organisations.

The lack of any Chiswick station on this list came as a major disappointment to people who have been campaigning for Turnham Green to be made step free. It was thought that, as Chiswick had no station that was fully accessible, including those on the train network, that the area would be given priority in the next round of upgraded stations.

The consultation did ask respondents to consider whether accessibility should be prioritised based on a lack in a specific geographic area, but this does not seem to have been a factor in TfL’s selection of stations to be upgraded, many being in areas which already have alternative step free provision.

We asked TfL for more details about the level of response by area to last year’s consultation. This showed that 77 people from Chiswick submitted comments, the fifth highest for any postcode out of 440. The highest was for Fulham where local MP Greg Hands had organised a campaign for step free access at Putney Bridge.

When we asked TfL about the possibility of Turnham Green or another station being assessed, its spokesperson said that further studies would be carried out next year and the years that follow ‘so it might be in the future’.

The lack of provision has frustrated disabled Chiswick residents for some time and it was highlighted a few years when a woman in a wheelchair became stranded at Acton Town at night.

There are 180 stations on the London Underground network at the moment with ten of those set to be upgraded.

Transport for All, which campaigns for provision for disabled people on public transport says that the lack of an accessible station can mean journey times can often be four times longer than those of non-disabled people.