Examination of Witnesses (Questions 940
- 959)
940. That does not involve two buses, that just
involves one bus, does it not?
(Mr West) That is correct, assuming they
actually live on the Romford Road.
941. Well, they do not actually live in Manor
Park Station.
(Mr West) Or they live in close proximity.
I take the point that what applies to the north equally applies
to the south.
942. Now, in terms of the benefits of going
to Stratford Station, perhaps we could flick up the picture of
it just for those who are not familiar with it. The buses stop
right in front of the station, do they not?
(Mr West) They do.
943. The station is fully accessible?
(Mr West) It is.
944. In terms of comparisons with Maryland,
it is a lovely, spanking, new, I think designed by Richard Rogers
or somebody almost equally eminent, station, is it not?
(Mr West) It was not designed by Richard
Rogers, it was designed by Wilkinson, but I would go along with
that one.
945. It has got disabled parking here, yes?
(Mr West) Currently, it has some limited
parking, but that is all to be taken out as the station is to
be a major construction site for the Olympics.
946. But Crossrail is not opening until after
the Olympics, so that does not really make very much difference
to Crossrail, does it?
(Mr West) It does insofar as in 2016 the
whole of Stratford will have been completely rebuilt and there
will actually have been a new ticket hall and a new bridge where
you are suggesting is the existing disabled parking.
947. But surely, if your Council is so concerned
about access for disabled people to railway facilities, it is
going to ensure that there is an adequate amount of disabled parking
in any rebuilt Stratford Station, is it not?
(Mr West) We certainly are trying to ensure
that, but of course there are other large organisations, like
the Olympic Delivery Authority and Transport for London, who are
involved with the planning of Stratford, but certainly, insofar
as our role is concerned as the local planning authority, we will
try to ensure that there is adequate disabled parking in the vicinity
of Stratford Station.
948. The other thing that you can do at Stratford
that you cannot do at Maryland is what is known in the trade as
`kiss and ride'. You can get a lift right up to the door, be dropped
off and then the person who is driving you, whether it be a taxi,
Dial-a-Ride, a friend, partner, carer, whatever, can drive off
again?
(Mr West) And even get a ticket. I think
the point about that is that we have got to remember that, as
I mentioned in my proof, because we are talking about people on
relatively low incomes, a lot of those people to which you refer
will not have access to a car, so they may not be able to make
those trips which you suggest are easy to make. They may have
to rely on the bus as their sole means of getting to Stratford.
Accepting your point that perhaps residents in the Manor Park
area may prefer to travel to Stratford as an alternative because
it is a relatively, on paper, simple bus journey, as I said in
my evidence, if you imagine the scenario of the mother with the
pushchair, the mother with the pram and the kids and the shopping
bags travelling at 2.30/3.00 in the afternoon along with half
the school population of the London Borough of Newham, I put it
to you that that would not be a very convenient, quick or comfortable
journey.
949. I understand, Mr West, that buses get busy
in London, but it is right, is it not, that trains also get busy,
so, if one was brave enough to try to get a double-buggy on to
a Crossrail train during the peak hour, that too is likely to
be quite difficult because the train might well be very busy?
(Mr West) From the information I have
seen on loadings for Crossrail between certainly east of Stratford
and Shenfield certainly in the off-peak, there is nothing that
suggests to me that there will be a capacity problem at any time
of the day, certainly not in the off-peak.
950. We were just talking about peaks. If you
change the goalposts, of course you are right, but, if you are
talking about peak time on the buses with lots of people, you
are also talking about peak time on the trains with lots of people.
(Mr West) Yes, except that in this particular
case, if you are going to Stratford, you are going against the
peak in the afternoon and, therefore, I would not imagine that
there would be a lot of problems on the train. There would be
more problems on the buses because of course the bus peak is in
both directions.
951. There are just two other little factual
points, Mr West, which I ought to pick up with you just for completeness.
You made reference to us providing an accessible station at Pudding
Mill Lane and I am sure that was a slip of the tongue.
(Mr West) That was a slip of the tongue.
952. There is no Crossrail station at Pudding
Mill Lane, is there?
(Mr West) That is well spotted. I apologise, that was a mistake.
953. You made reference also to the fact that
Burnham, if one looks at 019, is a bit of an anomaly because it
has a lower level of usage, but it is fully accessible. Burnham
is a long way from Newham or indeed Camden, so you are probably
not aware of this, but Burnham, for historic reasons, is already
fully accessible and Crossrail is doing no work to Burnham. I
assume you were not aware of that.
(Mr West) I was not and I stand corrected. I apologise for
misleading you on that.
954. MS LIEVEN: Thank you very much.
Examined by THE
COMMITTEE
955. LORD YOUNG OF NORWOOD GREEN: Mr
West, would you agree that, out of the Crossrail proposals, you
have actually got five stations in the Borough of Newham?
(Mr West) That is
correct, yes.
956. Three of those are completely step-free,
yes?
(Mr West) That is correct, my Lord, yes.
957. So would you agree that overall that is
a benefit for all Newham residents, including those with disability?
(Mr West) Insofar as it relates to those stations, yes, but
insofar as it relates to the other two, and that is 40 per cent
of the stations in Newham, then the answer has to be no.
958. No, even including those who live around
that station because they also have better access into town now
with Crossrail. Are they not better-quality trains with crowding
reduced, et cetera, so they benefit from the whole Crossrail concept?
(Mr West) Are we talking about able-bodied or are we talking
about—
959. I am talking about all.
(Mr West) Well, all will benefit to a degree, but those with
less mobility will obviously benefit less.
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