Mayor awards over £28 million to transform areas around Crossrail stations

The Mayor has awarded over £28 million to outer London boroughs in order for them to transform the public spaces around Crossrail stations. The TfL funding will support local borough-led projects at seventeen stations in Greater London and will help cut crime, improve road safety and make areas more pleasant for millions of passengers.

Improvements will include:

• Creating safe and secure walking and cycling routes and facilities;
• Developing seamless interchanges with local bus networks and taxis;
• Making improvements to the public realm and streets, on station forecourts and adjacent roads;
• Improving lighting in the surrounding areas in order to reduce crime

The improvements will be made by 2019, and will follow a huge range of other benefits that customers will experience when TfL takes over services between Liverpool Street and Shenfield from 31 May next year, ahead of Crossrail arriving.

Customers on all of the new TfL-run rail services will benefit from improvements, including staff at every station at all times that trains are running, better accessibility provision, including a turn up and go service for anyone needing ramps onto trains, full integration with TfL fares and ticketing and a more reliable service.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “It is hard to believe how far Crossrail has come; it has moved forward at an astounding pace. Now the key construction is well underway it is only right that we turn our attention to the areas around the stations. This funding will help boroughs complete a wealth of improvements in order to make travel safer and more pleasant for hundreds of thousands of Londoners.”

Leon Daniels, TfL’s Managing Director of Surface Transport, said: “TfL-run Crossrail will revolutionise travel across London, cutting journey times for millions, easing crowding and transforming access for disabled Londoners. As we do this, it is also important to make local improvements around our stations, making it easier for passengers to use or interchange with Crossrail services, whether they have arrived by rail, bus, foot or bike. This funding will do that – transforming public spaces for the benefit of everyone.”

TfL-run Crossrail will carry over 200 million passengers a year, boosting London’s rail-based capacity by 10 per cent, easing crowding and providing faster journey times. It will help London keep pace with a rapidly growing population and will support new jobs and economic growth.

Crossrail is the first transport project to deliver integrated designs with three elements in mind, including the station, above the station, and improved public spaces that surround them. These have been designed in close partnership between TfL, local authorities, Network Rail and Crossrail Limited.