More trains at Turnham Green

8:15am Friday 4th July 2008

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Plans to extend the number of Picadilly line trains stopping at Turnham Green station may soon become a reality following a meeting between TfL and members of the Piccadilly Stop Campaign.

The Piccadilly line currently only stops at Turnham Green after 10.30pm until the line closes at about midnight Monday to Sunday and from when the line opens at 5.30am until 6.45am Monday to Saturday and 7.45am on Sundays.

However, at the meeting last week in City Hall, TfL made a commitment to look into piloting an earlier evening stop, with 9pm or 9.30pm seen as a possibility.

Members of the campaign are eager for changes to be considered before signalling works, which are due to take place by 2014, begin at the station.

At Friday's meeting Richard Parry, director for strategy and service development for London Underground, revealed the new signalling system would allow Piccadilly line trains to stop at Turnham Green, and stated that London Underground would run a pilot scheme before considering the case for more stops at Turnham Green.

Campaigner Richard Jennings, 68, from Dukes Road, Chiswick said: "We recognise that we can't achieve all-day stopping of the Piccadilly line at Turnham Green until the present signalling system is replaced by a more flexible one, but meanwhile we believe that some short-term improvements are feasible.

"While the permanent solution is some years away, I'm encouraged that London Underground has agreed to look seriously at extending the times at which stopping at Turnham Green is currently scheduled."

Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Brentford and Isleworth Mary Macleod, who attended the meeting, said the commitment was a major step forward.

She said: "It would make a real difference to Chiswick residents if they were able to get back from work earlier in the evening and spend more time at home with their families. This is about improving their quality of life on a daily basis."

A spokesman for TfL said: "London Underground has no plans for the Piccadilly line to call at Turnham Green during the day but TfL will assess the impact of stopping Piccadilly line trains slightly earlier in the evening, for example after 9.30pm, on overall passenger journey times on the line."

Feedback from their findings will be revealed later in the summer.