Hospital bosses and Harrods back King’s Road Crossrail station

Backer: Harrods was among those to claim the new station would 'safeguard the area’s status as a world-leading cultural hub'
PA

Bosses from dozens of renowned west London institutions — ranging from Harrods to Chelsea & Westminster hospital — have joined forces to back plans for a new station in King’s Road.

In a letter to the Standard, they claim that the station on the proposed £30 billion Crossrail 2 route would “integrate” Kensington & Chelsea with London’s other transport networks and “safeguard the area’s status as a world-leading cultural hub and location for pioneering medical, research and educational establishments”.

Transport for London wants to build the station opposite Chelsea’s Old Town Hall in King’s Road, with three other sites in the street being used during the estimated five to eight-year construction period.

Some residents, including The Good Life actor Felicity Kendal and Made In Chelsea stars Georgia Toffolo and Hugo Taylor, have launched a campaign against the proposal.

Shopping hub: King's Road
Graham Hussey

However, in today’s letter, the 46 cultural, business and health chiefs argue that a station “of appropriate scale and design” will boost business “and ensure the long-term success of Kensington & Chelsea as a unique and iconic London retail, employment and cultural centre to the benefit of the whole capital”.

Signatories to the letter — which has also been sent to Mayor Boris Johnson — include Sir Michael Dixon, director of the Natural History Museum; Polpo restaurateur Russell Norman; Nigel Hurst, chief executive of the Saatchi Gallery; Joseph Cooper, managing director of the Imperial College Union; and Lesley Watts, chief executive of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

The signatories claim to represent employers with more than 20,000 staff and more than 30 million visitors a year. They say “it has long been acknowledged that Kensington and Chelsea lack good integration with the wider London public transport system, especially the Underground”.

The King’s Road station would be the only completely new station on the central section of the north-south link, which would be used by 30 trains an hour. The latest consultation on the proposed route from the Surrey suburbs through central London to the Hertfordshire commuter belt closed earlier this month.

Michèle Dix, TfL’s managing director for Crossrail 2, said: “The latest consultation for Crossrail 2 concluded on 8 January. We received over 19,000 responses to the consultation, many of which provided detailed answers which are currently being analysed.

“A number of suggestions and alternative proposals have been put forward and will be considered. The initial results of the consultation will be published this spring.”

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