Brent Cross West station sees Sadiq Khan at opening
The station, in Geron Way off the A5 Edgware Road, is located between Cricklewood and Hendon stations on the Midland Mainline, is now operational after the first train arrived following brief rail delays this morning (December 10).
Attendees for the opening day were greeted to live music and large crowds of train enthusiasts, councillors and those who were behind the project of the station.
An inside look of Brent Cross West station (Image: Joseph Reaidi)
Thameslink services will connect the new station to central London, with journey times to St Pancras taking as little as 12 minutes.
At peak times, up to eight trains an hour will pass through the station, providing links to Luton Airport and the Elizabeth line via Farringdon.
The departure board in Brent Cross West (Image: Joseph Reaidi)
Passengers will be served by six trains each way per hour during off-peak hours and weekends.
In fact, mayor Sadiq Khan made his entrance to the station from St Pancras, and confirmed that it did take him roughly 12 minutes to get to the station connecting Barnet and Brent.
Sadiq Khan as he spoke to the paper (Image: Joseph Reaidi)
He said: “First at St Pancreas, I made sure that the train to Luton had on it ‘Brent Cross West’, I’m so excited to see ‘Brent Cross West’.
“So, I got on there and I would say [it took] 12 minutes. Great, great service from the centre of London.
“And it shows why this station is so important because it connects this part of Barnet with the centre of our city in 12 minutes, when you’re at St Pancras the options are huge as to where you can go.
“But it connects those parts of London, those parts of the country, to Barnet.
“The overbridge means Barnet is connected to Brent, but also opens up the possibility now for thousands of new homes and thousands of new jobs. It’s really exciting.”
A plaque right before it was unveiled at Brent Cross West (Image: Joseph Reaidi)
The project will greatly benefit new households who intend to move into Brent Cross Town, a new neighbourhood under development that will include 6,700 new homes, 25,000 new jobs, three new schools, shops, major road improvements and new community facilities.
Mr Khan said it will “without a doubt” drive people to want to live in the area and will be regularly used by locals.
A plaque which reads: ‘Officially opened by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’ (Image: Barnet Council)
“Just think about the options for people who now want to live in Barnet. They now know they can see their family and friends just by jumping on the Thameslink, there’s a station there,” he said.
Sadiq Khan greeting members at Brent Cross West station (Image: Handout)
The mayor continued: “If you’re a business thinking about where to open, this is now a viable option because you know there’s great public transport – it shows the difference good public transport links can make.
“I think what’s really important is that Brent Council and Barnet Council have worked together. Barnet has led the project, what Barnet has done – this is the first borough led project in decades. Barnet has consulted the community, including those who are disabled by the way.
“It’s really important that it connects new housing with the station. But it also means in the next few years residents will also see it improves this part of London.”
Brent Cross West station (Image: Joseph Reaidi)
When asked about if he fears that more people living in the area could apply pressure to policing numbers and crime in the area, the mayor said: “I think what we need to do is to lobby the government for more resources.
“So I’ve written to the Home Secretary because we’re – according to the Met Police commissioner – short of about £240 million as a capital city.
“The reason I think it impacts Barnet is often officers in Barnet are having to go over to police protests in the centre of our city, they have to police cultural events, sporting events – and that takes police officers away from Barnet and that’s why I’d encourage Barnet councillor and Barnet MPs and Barnet residents to with me lobby the government for more resources.”
And the first train arrives at the shiny new #BrentCrossWest station! pic.twitter.com/WofmroWLFe[1][2]
— Barnet Council (@BarnetCouncil) December 10, 2023[3]
Barry Rawling, the leader of Barnet Council, said: “It’s an outstanding station, I can’t think of another station that looks like this in our part of London.
“It’s welcoming, it forms a link with the Edgware Road side, it has that connection. There’s the train connection so people in central London can get here quickly.
“People can go down to Luton airport so there’s that connection. It opens up the possibilities for Brent Cross Town.”
A pedestrian bridge going over the rails connects Barnet and Brent (Image: Joseph Reaidi)
Barnet Council secured £419 million of government funding from the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to allow the project to be delivered.
It has been supported by Mace, who has project managed the programme.
As well as delivering the 7,000 square foot station, hundreds of metres of tracks were reconfigured, and new modern railway sidings delivered, to allow Brent Cross West to be built.
Teams navigated the complexities of working on a live railway, as well as challenges faced by the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to its delay from opening last year.
References
- ^ #BrentCrossWest (twitter.com)
- ^ pic.twitter.com/WofmroWLFe (t.co)
- ^ December 10, 2023 (twitter.com)