We have been contacted by many residents living in Westbourne Terrace about the continued use of Westbourne Terrace by National Express coaches, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Residents ask that the NE coaches be re-routed along Eastbourne Terrace which is street of offices and Paddington Station and which has no residents.
Residents argue that, now the Crossrail works have been completed and Eastbourne Terrace is fully open to traffic, that Eastbourne Terrace should be the coach route. This argument makes very good sense to us. It would both enable the coaches to have a clear and unobstructed route and would take the impact of the coaches off the many hundreds of residents who live on Westbourne Terrace.
Residents have made the following points to us:
“The residents of Westbourne Terrace continue to be sacrificed at the altar of the Eastbourne Terrace God, for reasons that are impossible to understand for the lowly citizens. The argument appears to be that things have been like that for ten years, and it is just too much work to do any change. “
“Of all the endless traffic related plagues to have befallen Westbourne Terrace since the turn of the century, none has been worse than the constant stream of the simply gigantic National Express coaches shaking buildings up and down the street as they perform their tour of West London of their way to Victoria.”
“This has been an issue that has been going on for seven years, ever since National Express introduced new services at Paddington station. Ever since then, every stakeholder has agreed that these services should use Eastbourne Terrace which has very little traffic and has no resident, instead of Westbourne Terrace, which is completely residential.”
“Given that what we are asking for is beneficial to all stakeholders, including National Express and its customers, the situation is quite bewildering.”
“As the NE schedules are progressively reinstated over this summer, these already are again 24-hour services, seven days a week. It is quite beyond me how it is proving impossible to simply have NE use a shorter way, which has no resident, instead of passing on Westbourne Terrace and inducing small earthquakes all night long. To the ordinary resident like myself, it is genuinely beyond comprehension.”
We have started a petition which is attracting popular support from residents: bit.ly/WT-Petition
Judith Southern, Md Chowdhury and Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg
Hyde Park Ward Labour Action Team
Dario Goodwin, Ryan Jude and Ellie Ormsby
Lancaster Gate Ward Labour Action Team