A MAJOR overhaul of West Ealing railway station has been given the go ahead by Ealing Council.

Plans include a spacious new ticket hall and a new footbridge with new lifts to provide step-free access to every platform.

Platforms are to be extended so that the Manor Road station can accommodate new 200m long Crossrail trains, due to begin serving West Ealing from 2018.

Work to extend the platforms and construct the new footbridge will get underway from spring 2016 and take around a year to complete.

Matthew White, Crossrail surface director, said: “The new ticket hall, footbridge and lifts will transform passengers’ experience of using West Ealing station.

“Once Crossrail opens fully in 2019, local people will be able to travel right through the centre of the capital, making it quicker and easier to get to a range of destinations across London and the South East.”

A new bay platform for trains on the Greenford branch is scheduled to be brought into use in early 2016.

The new glass and steel station has been designed by Bennetts Associates and will also include new lighting, customer information screens, station signage, help points and CCTV.

Crossrail said it had also been working with Ealing Council and Network Rail to help improve the area around the new station, to provide cycle parking and better connections with other forms of transport.

Councillor Julian Bell, leader of Ealing Council, said: “We have already begun to see the benefits that Crossrail will bring to Ealing and now we can look forward to the arrival of the new West Ealing station.

“The high quality plans for the station will further improve the daily commute for our residents including better station access from the street, better accessibility to the station platforms via lifts and enhanced cycle parking to further encourage green travel in the borough.”

Passengers should be able to travel through the new Crossrail tunnels beneath central London from 2019.

A spokesman for Crossrail said passengers will be able to get to Bond Street in 13 minutes and Liverpool Street in 21 minutes, while the journey to Canary Wharf will take 27 minutes.