Pressure group calls for more improvements at station

Mayor of London Ken Livingstone checks out the new CCTV system at the revamped West Hampstead Tube station with duty station manager Zak Khan

HE is normally there as a commuter, but West Hampstead resident and Mayor of London Ken Livingstone was given a VIP tour of his newly refurbished Tube station on Monday.
Despite the funds to improve the 125-year-old West Hampstead station coming from the £10 billion Public Private Partnership (PPP) programme that the mayor fought against, Mr Livingstone was delighted with the results.
He said: “I want to make it clear that we will do everything we can to make the PPP work. Our job is to get the best deal for London.”
The £5 million revamp was carried out by Tube Lines, the company now in charge of maintaining the underground network. The work involved increasing CCTV cameras from 12 to 32, replacing a platform roof and providing new lights. Vital structural repairs and painting were also carried out.
Stressed-out commuters can now talk directly to staff using a help-point button in the waiting room – a first for an overground Tube station and a handy way of avoiding over-zealous journalists, according to a relaxed Mr Livingstone.
Station manager Zak Khan said the improvements had improved morale for staff and customers.
He added: “It’s great that so much money has been invested in a station like this. Now we have all the technology that other stations have and the station is bright and airy and safer for our users.”
New Jubilee line trains due to come into service early next year will have an extra carriage.
Virginia Berridge, from transport pressure group WHAT (West Hampstead Amenity and Transport), said that, while improvements were welcome, it was a shame that local people had not been consulted.
She added: “We hope that there will be a second stage of improvements which will include the long-awaited lift for better disabled access and a second entrance or exit from the platform to address the overcrowding problem.”