Could one ride the last train to both Aldwych and Ongar?

Published: Friday 30 September 1994
Newspaper: Hammersmith & Shepherds Bush Gazette
County: London, England
Type: Illustrated | Words: 299 | Page: 8 | Tags: none

Why are fares zooming out of our reach?

Why are fares zooming out of our reach? Londoners who travel by bus, for every three that are in full-time employment, there is one unemployed. Like the lowpaid, the income of the unemployed has fallen over the last 10 years. But instead of setting fare levels that take account of this, the Government has put public transport beyond the reach of the poorest, the vast majority of whom rely heavily on trains and buses. Recent fare increases are being used to fund desperately-needed improvements in response to the Government's failure to provide the levels of investment needed to reverse years of neglect. As a result, passengers are paying more and more for services that are rapidly deteriorating.

At a time when the Government should be expanding the public transport system, its decision to close Aldwych and the Epping-Ongar line is only the latest in cost cutting exercises and broken promises that date back to 1992, when it cut London Transport and British Rail funding by almost a quarter. In November's Budget, the Government has the opportunity to commit itself to the level of funding it promised in 1991. By switching resources from the roads programme it can, without spending another penny, provide the LS billion which is needed over the next three years.

The message for the new Secretary of State for Transport is a simple one. It's time to stop encouraging millions of people to use their cars more often. It's time to lower fares and create an attractive alternative to the car. It's time to provide the modern public transport system London so desperately needs.

Published: Friday 02 September 1994
Newspaper: Aberdeen Press and Journal
County: Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Type: Article | Words: 367 | Page: 5 | Tags: none

End of the line PASSENGERS on one of London Underground’s remotest outposts the Epping to Ongar shuttle line in Essex are to lose their service, it was announced yesterday. Aldwych station in central London, linked by a shuttle service to Holbom station, will also close, said LU...

Over the years all of the original lifts have been replaced or abandoned. The last in use was at Aldwych on a short branch of the Piccadilly line from Holborn, closed in September 1994. Very low passenger demand made replacement of the lifts here too expensive.

On 4 January 1993 it was announced that London Underground Ltd. was proposing to close the line because the lifts at Aldwych (which dated back to the line’s opening) were worn out and needed replacing at a cost of £3 million. This couldn’t be justified with only 450 people using the station each day. The date set for closure was 2 April 1993 but after objections were received this date was put back, with the last train finally running on 30 September 1994, when for the first time in its 87 year history the platforms and the trains were crowded.

The last train carrying the general public departed from the station on the evening of 30th September, 1994.

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Although there are many possibilities for system expansion, times change, and there are also those parts which have perhaps outlived their usefulness. An Underground line closure is a rare event, yet on 30 September 1994 both the Aldwych branch and the Epping-Ongar line saw their last trains. At Aldwych the coup de grace was the need for replacement of the 1906 lifts; daily usage by 450 passengers was judged inadequate to justify around £3 million in engineering capital expense.