Transport issues - Guy Lambert
Hi Guy Lambert,You said you were keen to discuss the transport in the area, so here is my view, and I am sure others will contribute.The good, the bad and the uglyThe good: Many may disagree with me here, but I think rail link for those of us who want to commute to Central London is , if not good, but adequate. Of course, longer trains are needed because the service is overcrowded, and we'd all like trains to move faster, but in comparison to everything else we have in Brentford / Syon / Isleworth, rail is probably the better one of the lot. I read that there are plans for additional rail links (15-year plan), so this could work well for those who live or commute for work into the area.Bus services towards Hounslow (237 and 235) are quite good too.The bad: We don't have a tube station, and probably won't have in the future, but a frequent bus service from Brentford High Street to Osterley tube would help a lot (H91 service is less than adequate and doesn't connect town centre). There is a bus service to Hounslow East station, but it takes too long due to road congestion. The ugly: Now, the "ugly" is so ugly, that I want to scream at the computer while I am typing it. I am taking about the bus services towards West Mid hospital and Twickenham.If you look at the stretch of the road between Morrisons in Brentford and Isleworth War memorial, there are 6 primary, 3 secondary schools and a major teaching hospital with A&E and maternity units that just doubled in size. There is just ONE bus route that takes you from Brentford to Twickenham, and frequency of service is frankly appalling.I spent countless mornings at a bus stop on London road with my 2 young kids just to watch buses whizz by without stopping because they are FULL. I am talking about 8 o'clock in the morning, well before the start of the school day. We then had to walk 1.5 miles, often in cold rain, and by the time we reached school gates kids were cold, wet and not set for learning. It is pretty much the same on the way back at 3.30 pm. On those occasions we did manage to get on a bus, my kids were pushed about, smacked in the head with rucksacks and I was verbally assaulted by the feral girls from Gumley school. This happens pretty much every weekday. And just to mention - those buses are now stuck in a car park called Twickenham road, adding up to 40 minutes to a journey that used to take less than 15.This is now. Let's remember that you are about to open a new secondary school at Busch corner, adding 1000+ journeys every weekday to the public transport network that is already bursting at the seams. Someone mentioned 2 more schools at or near Gillette's - true? How about 18,000 jobs planned for Golden Mile? How are those people meant to get to and from work?There is a big push from your colleagues at Hounslow council to get people out of cars and onto bikes and public transport. May I ask, what did they do to improve public transport first? They are about to spend £60,000 of our money on leaflets advertising how we should all start cycling. Don't you think it's a bit disingenuous, when your party's mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan told the press only today that he won't let his OWN two daughters cycle in London because it isn't safe?For the record, I walk whenever I can, but sometimes it is too far for the little kids, or too cold, or they are too tired after a full day at school. You leave us with no options. I can see a big trouble coming your way.In the spirit of "citizen engagement" may I suggest that you and your colleagues start talking to the real people and listen to the problems we face day in and day out.I am not saying that council is solely responsible for this mess, but you need to talk with TFL and try and sort out transport infrastructure problems before approving thousands of new developments in the area.And then there is a death trap called Busch corner junction. People have been complaining about safety for months, but no one had a decency even to acknowledge the issue. Councillors, including yourself, seem to be spending a lot of their time talking about dog mess, potholes and other non-issues, but nobody wants to see the elephant in the room.Please let me know if you wish to discuss this personally.
Marina Thomas ● 3915d15 Comments ● 3914d