The Anonymous Widower

Before Crossrail – East Is East And West Is West

I have now seen a good proportion of the Crossrail stations and they range from the spectacular new stations like Reading and Stratford to some much simpler ones like Taplow and Goodmayes.

But there is an East-West divide with the former Great Western stations being generally better designed and in a superior state of repair to those that were built by the Great Eastern.

Crossrail has a section on its web site called Urban Realm, which details their plans for all the stations.

Some of the more ambitious schemes involve virtually new stations like Hayes and Harlington and Southall, but they tend to be in the west.

So are we seeing another manifestation of the policy of not giving rail lines to the east, the investment they deserve?

Surely, if Southall needs a new station, then so does Manor Park?

Manor Park may well get a substantially rebuilt station, as the future development of the station is described like this in Wikipedia.

Manor Park station will be served by Crossrail from 2018. The platforms will not be lengthened so selective door operation will be used instead, allowing the freight loop to remain in use. Due to the narrow platforms, and the layout of the station, fitting lifts for disabled access would be difficult and expensive, requiring the walkways to be rebuilt and closing the station for several months. Like all the other Crossrail stations, this station will be made accessible.

As full step-free access has been promised, we may see more development at Manor Park.

October 13, 2014 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Before Crossrail, Crossrail, Trains