Transport for LondonShepherd's Bush Overground opens
It's part of a multi-million pound transport upgrade, financed by developer Westfield, and completed in partnership with Transport for London (TfL).
The doors to the station opened to reveal improved CCTV and better lighting, a low height ticket office window for wheelchair users, and two lifts either side of the footbridge providing step-free access to the platform.
The accessible station will be staffed at all times during train operating hours so that passengers are secure and safe.
It is the first time in 68 years that a new mainline rail station has opened for business on the Willesden Junction to Clapham Junction line.
A Tube station which previously occupied the site used to be known as Uxbridge Road, until it closed in 1940.
The opening is part of a rolling programme of improved transport facilities in the White City and Shepherd's Bush area, thanks to the partnership between property developers Westfield and TfL.
Next in line will be the unveiling, in mid-October, of Shepherd's Bush Underground station on the Central line, which closed for eight months while a new ticket hall and escalators were installed and the whole station modernised.
To avoid confusion with the Central line station, the existing Shepherd's Bush Underground station on the Hammersmith & City line is to be renamed Shepherd's Bush Market to reflect its position and create a new identity.
Perhaps the most exciting chapter of the programme of improvements will be the much-awaited opening of Wood Lane station.
It is the first station to open on an existing and unextended Tube line in more than 70 years.
Located between Shepherd's Bush market and Latimer Road stations, it is also scheduled to open in October in plenty of time for the launch of the new Westfield London centre on 30 October.
The new accessible Wood Lane station forms part of the gentrification of the area between Holland Park and Chiswick including the 1.5 million square foot Westfield London shopping centre, with more than 270 shops, a 14-screen cinema and leisure facilities.
The scheme is a partnership between London Underground (LU) - which owns the freehold to the 46-acre development site - and developer Westfield, which is contributing £170m in transport improvements.
A further £30m is being contributed by LU.
Further transport investments include a new bus station to the north west of the White City development which will run approximately one bus a minute.
This major investment has created jobs and brought transport regeneration that will benefit the immediate local community and all of west London, as well as transforming day-to-day travel for many commuters.
