Ruislip Residents' Association

All metropolitan line trains now have had static strap hangers installed on many of the high horizontal grab bars within the carriages.    This should make it far easier for shorter people to find somewhere safe to hold on to when standing up in these trains.    We would be interested to hear your views about them.   Are they of help to you?

The escalators between the Jubilee/Bakerloo line platforms and street level are being refurbished, and thus are out of action until around March 2013.   The route during this time will be via staircases rather than escalators.   To ease congestion during peak hours, a one-way system has been set in place.   For users wishing to reach the Metropolitan line platforms from the lower lines it means that platforms 1 and 2 can be reached in the usual manner, but to access platforms 3 and 4 you will need to go up to platforms 1 and 2, then up the stairs to the main ticket hall, cross over and walk back down to platforms 3 and 4.    You therefore may wish to change (if possible) to the Metropolitan Line at other stations such as Finchley Road.    Other stations on the LU network also have no, or limited, step free access.    Please check the “Stations” tab on the live update part of their website for more information.

Due to strong customer feedback about most of the handrails in the new trains being too high, LU will be fitting strap hangers to some rails.  Meanwhile some of the trains need to be sent back to the manufacturers for various modifications.  To ensure that there will still be enough trains running on the line whilst those trains are being worked on, LU will be providing us with some S Stock trains from the Circle/District line.  These are the same make/type of train, but the seating is all longitudinal (like on the Piccadilly line) rather than in blocks of seats.

The last of the old style 'A' stock metropolitan line trains will be taken out of service this month.   There will be a special tour of these old trains, travelling to all stations on the metropolitan line, on Saturday 29 September.   Tickets are £40 for adults and £15 for children and can be bought from the London Transport Museum - tel: 0207 565 7298.  See attached  poster .

If you wish to check the tube train times when planning a day out, you can find the current timetables here.

In December 2011 it was agreed in principal that the Croxley Rail Link project would go ahead. Unfortunately the decision did still include the closure of the Watford Metropolitan Line station (near Cassiobury Park) once the new line has been built.

The project will now proceed through the Transport and Works Act Order process, which is the statutory means for gaining the powers to construct, operate and maintain the link.

If all goes well, the procurement process should start this Spring, and building work on the rail line would then be scheduled to begin in the summer of 2014, with the aim for it to be completed by the autumn of 2015. Therefore the line will hopefully open to the public in 2016.

This proposed rail link is not in our Ruislip area, being close to Watford.   However, it may be of interest to any of our residents who travel to Watford for work/shopping/leisure.

The proposal is to extend the current Metropolitan line from past Croxley station, via Watford High Street station, so that it would terminate at Watford Junction.  This would give us a tube line access to the centre of Watford, rather than just to the outskirts.   Here is the link to the website for more information and also for the consultation.

The scheme  would involve building 2 new stations - one which would be very close to Watford General Hospital and one near an industrial park.  Most of the extension would run along an existing disused railway line.  However, the present proposal would mean closing the current Watford station at the end of the existing Metropolitan line (i.e. the one that serves Cassiobury Park).

Having considered the matter at our last Executive meeting, RRA has decided to support the proposal.  It would improve access to Watford for shoppiing, the hospital and the football ground and thus perhaps reduce the need for people to drive to the area.  However, we do not agree with the proposed closure of the the existing Metropolitan line station near Cassiobury Park.  We will be writing to ask for that part of the line and station to remain open should the scheme go ahead.