Shanta’s Letter
Rumour has it that the Gunnersbury Groundlings have written a letter to Shanta. What might they be wishing for?
Gunnersbury Station; Chiswick Tower
Update December 2025:
Our Chair, Marie Rabouhans spoke at the meeting of Hounslow Council’s Planning Committee on Thursday, 4th December on the Chiswick Tower development proposals.
To see our report of the meeting, please click here.
Gunnersbury Station; Chiswick Tower
Update November 2025:
To read the latest Chiswick Tower Development Proposals please click here.
To see the comments submitted by the Society in June 2025, please click here.
Annex 2 is provided as a separate document – to see it, please click here.
We believe that the current proposals for the redevelopment of Chiswick Tower and surrounding land present a unique opportunity to achieve the much-needed improvements to the station. Failure to seize this opportunity risks the station remaining unfit for purpose for the foreseeable future. Once redevelopment goes ahead, future changes to the station will be very difficult to achieve.
It appears that progress has been made on identifying the land required for the station expansion and on an outline solution to providing both stairs and a lift. The issues are the timescales and the funding.We believe that a concerted effort by all key players could .get us “over the line”.
Gunnersbury Station; Chiswick Tower
It’s now or never – Gunnersbury can’t wait
The West Chiswick and Gunnersbury Society (WCGS) has been campaigning for enhancement to access and capacity at Gunnersbury Station for more than 20 years. We believe that proposals for the redevelopment of Chiswick Tower and surrounding land presents a unique opportunity to achieve the much needed improvements to the station.
Failure to seize this opportunity risks the station remaining unfit for purpose for the foreseeable future. Once any redevelopment goes ahead, future changes to the station will be very difficult to achieve.
Background
Gunnersbury Station is of strategic importance to the development potential of the whole Borough of Hounslow, given that it acts as a transport hub, providing a railhead to the District Line and London Overground via TfL bus services and SkyTV shuttle buses from a wide area across Brentford, Isleworth and along the Great West Corridor. Major enhancement is needed now to accommodate the massive increase in usage due to the development of the Chiswick Business Park (now 10,000 capacity), the Brentford Football Stadium and other significant developments under construction or in the pipeline. The importance of improving Gunnersbury Station to the Council’s ambitions for the Great West Corridor was recognised by the Inspectors at the aborted Examination in Public of the Local Plan reviews in November 2021.
Station access and capacity at Gunnersbury are severely compromised by the constricted size and shape of the ticket hall, the limited number of ticket gates and, especially, the narrow, two-way stairway to the single island platform, serving both Underground and Overground trains. As all users of the station are well aware, this set-up gives rise to serious congestion and conflict between those entering and leaving during peak periods. At such times TfL (who manage the station) may, for safety reasons, operate with the stairs as one-way exit only from the platform, preventing access for those intending to catch a train. In addition the station is closed or operates as “exit only” after football matches at the Brentford Football Club stadium. The lack of inclusive access to the platforms is also a significant barrier to using the station for many people including the disabled, the elderly and those with small children or luggage.
Current action
Since the general election WCGS has been busy. We have met with Andy Slaughter MP and we are delighted that he has offered us his support and indicated his willingness to reconvene the Gunnersbury Station action Team (GSAT), bringing together the major stakeholders. Ruth Cadbury MP was GSAT chair and had intended to hold a meeting of this group while still the MP for Chiswick but this was prevented by the calling of the General Election for 4th July. Ruth has written to the Rail Minister Lord Hendy to ask for an update about the successful Access for All Bids for Kew Bridge & Gunnersbury Stations.
We have had a meeting with Hounslow Council development and traffic officers and have raised the issue with the relevant cabinet members.
Following the on-line consultations, we met with the developer’s team. We requested that the next public engagement be in the form of an in-person exhibition rather than on-line.
We emphasised the need for both a second staircase and a lift for the station and there was discussion as to how this might be achieved. They are looking for concrete proposals from TfL/Network Rail with respect to the station so that they can consider if and how these might be accommodated within their plans for the tower and surroundings. Their recognition that land under their ownership is crucial to improving the station is, we feel, a positive first step that we need collectively to capitalise on.
We believe that getting the two transport providers fully on board is the key to unlocking the potential of the current situation. So what we need now is for TfL, Network Rail and the Council to “pull out all the stops” to seize this unique opportunity to provide the necessary improvements to the station. They need to deliver railway engineering expertise and funding.
We are convinced that, with a concerted effort, Gunnersbury Station could change from having a negative impact to making a very positive contribution to the quality of life for all those living in, working in and visiting the area. Our wish is for all interested parties to work together to facilitate real progress at this important transport hub on the Chiswick/Brentford boundary. Provision of a second stairway and a lift, together with public-realm improvements to the station frontage, would deliver a station fit for purpose and a welcoming gateway to the area. This would be to the significant benefit of residents and businesses both local and those located along the Great West Corridor.
August 2024
Gunnersbury Station; Pedestrian Crossing
Having campaigned for years for improvements to the Gunnersbury Station pedestrian crossing, the Society was delighted that the necessary work was undertaken by TfL in late 2023. The Chiswick Business Park / Gunnersbury Station / Chiswick High Road traffic signals have been upgraded and as part of these works the crossing outside Gunnersbury Station has been widened.
Each crossing now benefits from pedestrian countdown and all the signals, push button controllers, and the cabinet and power supply have been replaced as part of the works. New detectors have been added to improve the efficiency of the junction.
By increasing capacity at peak pedestrian flow times, the widening of the crossing has helped to deal with the crowds who spill out into the street to and from the Chiswick Business Park at peak times. This has improved pedestrian safety.
December 2023
With respect to the agreed works at Gunnersbury Station, the improvements to the ticket hall and the movement of the old platform mounted driver’s CCTV screens were completed by 2018. Work had also been carried out to allow east bound London Overground trains to stop closer to the stairs; this would allow faster clearing of the platform and allow quicker boarding of the trains.However, the other agreed works, which had then been scheduled for Spring 2019 have not yet (Spring 2021) been carried out. These works include moving the shelter some 50m south along the platform, improving the platform surface and moving the yellow lines closer to the platform edge. TfL reported in late 2020 that this de-cluttering work was now suspended as TfL’s income had been hit very badly by COVID.
Footbridge In early 2020 TfL reported that early indications were that the new footbridge, to Chiswick Park station, was leading to some reduction in passenger flow at Gunnersbury. Since then COVID-19 Pandemic restrictions have meant that no meaningful assessment of passenger flows has been possible.
Representative of WCGS (our Chair and Treasurer) were among those who attended the opening ceremony for the new footbridge from the Chiswick Business Park to Bollo Lane and Chiswick Park station on January 24th 2019. Local families are already making use of this beautiful and peaceful walkway to access the Gunnersbury Triangle nature reserve. The bridge is equipped with a lift at the far end for buggies, bikes and wheelchairs.
Background
Footbridge On-Track or Off the Rails?
Drawing of the planned footbridge taken from the Design Access Statement.
Planning Ref: 00248/D/P62
It is now a year since the Planning Committee once more* approved an application for the footbridge linking the Chiswick Business Park to Chiswick Park station (10 December 2015).
Despite the recognised urgent need for this footbridge now that occupation of Building 7 (capacity 2500-3000) is underway, the Legal Agreement needed to allow work to begin had still not been signed.
The September 2016 track possession slot offered by Network Rail has been lost and a completion date for the footbridge during 2017 is looking unlikely (January 2017 was proposed in December 2015).
This serious delay in providing the footbridge, despite the recognition that it is an essential piece of infrastructure, confirms the misgivings and concerns the Society expressed, when our request for phased occupation of Building 7 to be tied to the delivery of the bridge was refused.
Our comments, published in the Addendum to the Planning Officer Report presented at the December 2015 meeting of the Planning Committee, included:
“WCGS understands the need to expedite this application in order that the developer can take advantage of the September 2016 track possession slot offered by Network Rail. We do not intend therefore to raise any objection at this stage. However we do wish to record our misgivings with respect to timely delivery of the footbridge and our grave concerns as to the overcrowding at Gunnersbury Station.
These concerns are shared by GSAT (Gunnersbury Station Action Team) attendees from tenant companies at CBP. The need for TfL to introduce additional station management because “there would be likely to be increased inconvenience and additional delays to passengers accessing the station due to increased passenger numbers” demonstrates the seriousness of the situation at the station.”
Overcrowding within the station is being managed by extra TfL staff.
For those travelling from Gunnersbury station during the morning peak, such management now results in being denied access to the platform for longer interval.
As peak period trains arrive, TfL staff clear the platform by controlling the stairs as one-way for exiting passengers, holding passengers wishing to access the platform in a queue at the single “in” gate, until staff consider it safe for them to descend the stairs against the flow.
When a second train arrives before the island platform is cleared, the wait can be for several minutes leading to significant delays if a train is missed.
To access this gate passengers entering from the Chiswick High Road have to walk through the ticket hall and along part of the footbridge from the Grange Road/Wellesley Road entrance.
This situation is extremely unpleasant for all concerned – those struggling in the crush to leave the platform, those being delayed from accessing the platform and the unfortunate TfL staff on the front line having to cope with all this stress and frustration.
Hardly an Enjoy-Work kind of start to the day!
Also as we have emphasised, TfL staff only manage overcrowding within the station.
The situation with respect to crossing the Chiswick High Road is of real concern.
Leaving the station in the morning peak, some of the crowd join the queue for west-bound buses. Others, the majority, head across the road and sadly do not always wait for the lights to change.
It was reported at GSAT in July that TfL had agreed to install a countdown indicator at the main pedestrian crossing outside Gunnersbury Station to improve control of the crowds crossing to and from the business park. This is apparently still held up by linkage to the unresolved issues between TfL and park management concerning bus stops for the No 27 bus.
These stops are needed to make the service more useful for workers at the Chiswick High Road of the business park as well as for local people.
*The need for the footbridge was recognised as early as 2001 and planning permissions have been granted in 2007, 2012 and 2015.
WCGS 