Government helps to fund Stratford upgrade

Network Rail has secured a £2 million grant from the Department of Transport to help with the development of plans for congestion relief at Stratford station in east London. Stratford is a major hub, served by National Rail, the Docklands Light Railway, London Underground and London Overground. It was a central part of transport plans for the London Olympics in 2012, but since then there has been a ‘huge growth’ in demand, according to Network Rail. Before the pandemic almost 42 million passengers used Stratford in 2019-2020, making it the busiest non-terminus station in the capital. This passenger count is about the same as at Birmingham New Street, which has five times as much circulation space since New Street was rebuilt a few years ago. During peak times Stratford requires congestion management measures including one-way systems around the station and on to the platforms to maintain the safety of passengers and the DfT funding will help Network Rail to develop plans to improve the station, which is managed by Transport for London.