Ealing Broadway - station facilities, access issues and many sad incidents (merged posts)

[whole diary]

[Lee]

When the project is complete early in the new year , customers using First Great Western and London Underground services can look forward to a new booking hall , waiting room and toilets (link below.)
http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/NewsItem.aspx?id=536

[Thomas the Tank Engine]

Typical of FGW^▸ (First Great Western) really...  tart it up to look good on the surface, but underneath, it's still rotten to the core!

[Thomas the Tank Engine]

The Ealing Gazette has given the plans a major thumbs down... 


A PLANNED ^400,000 makeover for Ealing Broadway tube has been criticised for ignoring mums and disabled people.

Work revamping the ticket area, toilets and waiting room is scheduled to start next month. Two extra staff will also be added and new information screens installed.

But transport bosses have again ignored calls for access improvements at the station - despite a campaign highlighting the issue by the Gazette last year.

Ealing users group spokesman John Beeston called the works exercise cosmetic.

He called on Transport for London to take control so the station can benefit from investment similar to tranport hubs like Stratford.

[Chris from Nailsea]

See blog at http://ihatefirstgreatwestern.blogspot.com/2008/07/not-very-app-ealing.html

[tom-langley]

I received a parking ticket recently for stopping in one of the bays outside earling broadway.

I had assumed wrongly it was like most stations where you were allowed 20 minutes free. However I was only there about 2 minutes and did not even turn the engine off or get out of the car and the picture even shows my reversing lights as I am reversing out of the bay!

I can understand the need for restrictions on a station like this with minimal parking, but it was extremely unclear that absolutely no waiting is allowed and it seems very excessive.

Secondly, it has taken them over 4 months to send the notice out, is it still enforceable?

[Chris from Nailsea]

Sorry to hear about that bad experience, tom_langley!

I'll need to do a bit of digging, but if (as you say) absolutely 'no waiting' is allowed - why are there any bays provided in the first place ?? 

[Don]

If your reversing lights are on then you are in the car and arguably moving.  You are therefore not parked.  Worth an appeal at least. 

Note that appealing will not cost you any more, any reduction for prompt payment will still apply after the appeal.

[Phil]

Hmm, I tried to check the sign which presumably shows the restrictions via StreetView but it's facing the wrong way. Assuming it's the sign in black facing the station on the lamp-post next to the bloke posing for the camera, I'd have to say it's very high up - you'd have to be stood on the roof of your car even to read it!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=ealing&sll=51.511253,-0.328903&sspn=0.011218,0.027637&g=ealing+broadway&ie=UTF8&ll=51.515019,-0.302317&spn=0.002644,0.006909&z=17&layer=c&cbll=51.51513,-0.302307&panoid=ge-ycuCTD8aJgbQtsyGfDg&cbp=12,148.6415108973732,,1,0.0038819875776445133

[tom-langley]

I am fairly sure that refers to the road and bus stops on the main road. Ealing council have CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit Tele Vision) cameras that will catch you if you stop on the main road. I was actually in the bay, which is private land and has this company enforcing it and have subsequenty found out that its people stood at the station entrance with a handheld camera taking photos of cars.

What annoys me is there is nothing on the entrance to the bay saying that^s its private property and waiting is not allowed.

and if you look closley that might even be someone doing it by the dexters shop in the white shirt.

[moonrakerz]

I had assumed wrongly it was like most stations where you were allowed 20 minutes free.

Even that doesn't work a lot of the time ! Warminster has a number of "private" taxi bays outside the station and two huge "taxis only" areas all down Station Road - but you still find taxis occupying the public 20 minute bays. I have complained, but doesn't seem to have had any effect, I presume FGW^▸ (First Great Western) have a "contractual" arrangement with the taxi firms and don't want to upset them !

[jane s]

Hi Tom,

Sorry to hear about this.

I work in Ealing and can confirm 100% that you are NOT allowed to park in those bays, even to load & unload. The clampers in this area are notorious for being very quick off the mark, so if you only got a parking ticket, you are actually lucky! You are not even allowed to stop on the road just to let someone get out, either.

As far as I know, the bays are intended for the use of the people working in the shops in the parade &/or the station.

I will check what the sign actually says & get back to you.

[jane s]

Okay, here it is - the actual wording on the 2 large yellow signs above the bays is:

"PRIVATE PARKING

No stopping/dropping off/waiting or parking in the marked bays at any time

Ticketing/wheel clamping/towing in operation

Refer to main boards for terms and conditions"

The aforementioned main boards (admittedly placed so low down that you can't read them if a car is parked in front of them) begin with:

"PRIVATE PROPERTY

24 hours 7 days a week

Vehicles stopping or waiting on this land not displaying a valid permit will be clamped and or towed away and or issued with a fixed penalty charge immediately with no notice.........."

Most of the bays also have a sign on them stating that the space belongs to National Rail, K shoes or whoever.

As for why your ticket took so long to arrive - well, I'm afraid I can't answer that one.

But it seems pretty clear to me that you were in breach of their rather draconian rules......

[super tm]

Try this forum.  There is a whole section on parking tickets. Worth a look.

http://forums.pepipoo.com/

Or more particularly this

http://forums.pepipoo.com/index.php?autocom=ibwiki&cmd=cat&id=4

[Rogang]

Just a quick word of support to the driver and on-board staff on the 7:29 Swansea-Paddington, and station staff at Ealing Broadway following this morning's fatality. Too many people witnessed a particularly nasty suicide, and  thoughts go to everyone involved.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Indeed, Rogang: thank you for posting here so sympathetically about this sad incident. 

From the Ealing Gazette:

Woman killed by train

A young woman was killed yesterday (Thursday) at Ealing Broadway station, after apparently stepping in front of a train.

She was hit shortly before 10.30am by a First Great Western express service from Swansea to Paddington, which was not due to stop at the station. Onlookers were stunned as staff scrambled to deal with the aftermath of the incident - evacuating the platform and shutting down trains and underground services. Rail and Central Line services were disrupted for around an hour.

Paramedics, fire crews and large numbers of police officers were sent to Ealing Broadway, but nothing could be done to save the victim. She is believed to have been killed instantly by the impact with the train. An air ambulance was placed on standby but was not despatched.

The incident is not being treated as suspicious.

One traveller said station staff had moved quickly to deal with the incident, as people waiting for trains at the busy interchange looked on in horror.

A First Great Western manager said he was ordered to evacuate the station immediately after the collision.

One man, who helps his friend run the Modern Food stall on one of the platforms, said: "It's a real tragedy that this young lady went under the train. I saw them carrying out body bags - it was terrible. I'm from northern Iraq and I've seen war and death, but it's still so horrible to see a waste of a precious life."

Another worker at the nearby Costa coffee stall said: "I was busy serving coffee, so I did not really see anything. Then we were told to leave, but there wasn't really a panic. All I heard is that it was a young woman."

Services were severely disrupted following the incident and passengers trying to use the Central Line were directed to use the 207 bus.

The station was eventually handed back to the control of Network Rail at 11.40am.

At the time of going to press, police had not named the dead woman.