TfL's new Overground would run through Chiswick without stopping. The nearest new station is Lionel Road. Consultation closes 18 November, drop-in 13 October.

Transport for London opened an eight-week consultation on 23 September on a new London Overground line between Hendon and Hounslow. The route would run through Chiswick on a freight line. It would not stop here.

The consultation closes on 18 November 2026. There is a drop-in event in Chiswick on Tuesday 13 October.

The scheme is called the West London Orbital. TfL says it would fill “a significant gap in London’s transport network” by letting people travel across west London without going into the centre and back out. Twelve stations, four of them new. Four trains an hour along the whole route, and six an hour on the northern half.

For Chiswick the interesting parts are not the headline. They are what happens at Bollo Lane, and where the nearest platform would actually be.

Where the line goes, and where it stops

TfL’s route summary is blunt about this stretch. South of Old Oak Common Lane the trains join the Mildmay line tracks through Acton Central and South Acton. Then, in TfL’s words, the route “would switch briefly onto another freight line through Chiswick, including a new station at Lionel Road”.

After Lionel Road the trains join the Hounslow Loop. The stops from there south are:

  • Brentford
  • Syon Lane
  • Isleworth
  • Hounslow, the southern terminus

None of them is in Chiswick. The nearest new platform to a Chiswick doorstep would be Lionel Road, next to Brentford Community Stadium.

Lionel Road station would have two platforms, sitting between the stadium and the planned Brentford Works development. The entrance would be from Lionel Road South and from a station square delivered as part of that development. TfL puts it about 300 metres from Kew Bridge station, a three to five minute walk, so you could change on the street onto South Western Railway trains to Waterloo (Transport for London, new stations).

The four existing stations south of there stay with South Western Railway. They would get one thing Chiswick commuters might envy: all-day staffing between the first and last train (Transport for London, FAQs).

Bar chart comparing the public transport journey time from Brentford to Neasden: 68 minutes today, and 29 minutes with the West London Orbital, a saving of 39 minutes. Source: Transport for London, West London Orbital consultation, published 23 September 2026.
Chart by Chiswick Today
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TfL’s own worked example for this end of the line is Brentford to Neasden. It takes 68 minutes by public transport now. With the Orbital it would take 29 minutes, a saving of 39 minutes, or 57 per cent (Transport for London, potential benefits).

The Bollo Lane decision is the one that touches Chiswick

The part of this consultation with a direct local consequence is not a station. It is a level crossing, and the argument for closing it names a Chiswick address.

There are two level crossings close together on Bollo Lane, in South Acton, a few hundred metres over the borough boundary:

  • the Kew line crossing to the north, currently freight only, which the Orbital trains would use
  • the Richmond line crossing to the south, used by Mildmay line and freight trains

TfL says the barriers there are already down for 40 to 50 per cent of the day. Add Orbital services and they would be down for up to 75 per cent of the time, for stretches as long as 11 minutes. Because the two crossings sit so close together, barriers on both would have to fall for a train on either line, to stop vehicles queuing across the other crossing.

So at least one of them would probably have to close to traffic. TfL’s stated preference is to close the Richmond line crossing rather than the Kew line one, and the first reason it gives is a Chiswick one:

It would ensure access remains available to Chiswick Business Park and other properties between the two crossings, including for bus routes 440 and 70, so these bus routes would not need to be changed.

The second reason is that the Kew line barriers would stay up for around 60 per cent of the time, because few other trains use that crossing (Transport for London, impacts on level crossings).

If that crossing does shut, TfL says the likeliest way of keeping people walking and cycling across the railway is a new bridge. Which brings in the building in the photograph at the top of this page.

The Bollo Lane Junction signal box is listed, and TfL says it “may be affected if a pedestrian bridge over the railway is confirmed as being needed at this location”. The stated intention is to move it somewhere else, in discussion with heritage organisations and Ealing Council, the borough it stands in.

Two other crossings on the route could close: Churchfield Road at Acton Central, and Wood Lane in Isleworth. The Wood Lane one carries the H28 bus, and TfL says any change to that route would need its own consultation.

Who decides, and when

This is not a planning application to Hounslow. TfL would seek consent through a Transport and Works Act Order, a statutory instrument made by the Secretary of State for Transport.

That matters locally for two reasons, both of which TfL sets out itself. A TWAO “can authorise the stopping up or diversion of any highways and the closure of level crossings”. And an application can ask the Secretary of State for a direction for deemed planning permission, “meaning that planning permission could be granted by the government rather than the local planning authority” (Transport for London, TWAO).

The programme TfL has published is long:

  • decision on whether the scheme progresses: end of 2027
  • TWAO application: around 2029
  • construction begins: the early 2030s
  • passenger services: around 2035

The estimated cost is £800 million to £900 million at 2023 prices. TfL says funding would come from central government, itself, the Greater London Authority, local partners and developer contributions. What is actually agreed today is much smaller: funding agreements with the west London boroughs and the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation covering work up to £6.65 million, split half TfL and half the partners. That pays for the current design phase and nothing more.

Around 25,000 homes are expected to benefit, a figure TfL says covers both homes the scheme would enable and planned developments that would gain from better transport.

What it means for you

If you live in Chiswick, this line would pass you rather than serve you. The honest summary is that the nearest new platform would be at Lionel Road, by the stadium, and the nearest existing one on the route is Kew Bridge. Turnham Green, Chiswick Park, Stamford Brook and Chiswick station are all untouched by the proposal.

If you drive, cycle or walk across Bollo Lane, read the level crossing pages. A closure there is the change most likely to alter a Chiswick journey, and the consultation explicitly asks for views on it. TfL says it will consult again in detail on any closure, but the direction is being set now.

If you commute on the Hounslow Loop from Brentford, Syon Lane or Isleworth, the offer is more trains, an Overground service on top of South Western Railway, and staffed stations all day.

If you want to turn up and ask questions, the events nearest Chiswick are:

  • Tuesday 13 October, 16.00 to 19.00, Chiswick Works, 100 Bollo Lane, W4 5LX
  • Thursday 22 October, 16.00 to 19.00, Water and Steam Museum, Green Dragon Lane, Brentford TW8 0EN
  • Saturday 3 October, 11.00 to 14.00, Old Isleworthians’ Association Sports Club, 22A Wood Lane, Isleworth TW7 5ED
  • Saturday 7 November, 11.00 to 14.00, Hounslow House Library, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB

Responses go through TfL’s consultation survey, which is open until 18 November 2026. There is a question tool on the same page, a telephone call back service on 020 3054 6037, and a postal address, FREEPOST TFL HAVE YOUR SAY.

The bits that got dropped

Two elements of the long-discussed scheme are not in the proposal, and both have published reasons.

The West Hampstead branch is out. A branch through Cricklewood to West Hampstead Thameslink was in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy. TfL now forecasts around seven times fewer passengers on it than on the route to Hendon, and says it would make the scheme roughly £100 million more expensive. Service on the branch would have been limited to two trains an hour. TfL says the route will be protected so the option stays open.

Mildmay line platforms at Old Oak Common Lane are not included. They could be added later if funding is found, but they are not needed to run the Orbital.

One thing still undecided is how the trains are powered. Only part of the route is electrified today, between Acton Wells junction and South Acton, and between Old Kew junction and Hounslow. TfL is weighing full overhead electrification, partial electrification with battery-electric trains, and battery trains charged at each end of the line. About 11 trains would be needed, four or five carriages each.

There is one more piece of engineering on our doorstep. Old Kew Junction, next to the proposed Lionel Road station, is single track, so trains cannot pass each other. TfL plans to add a second track, plus a turnback section west of Lionel Road so trains can be pulled out of service when the Hounslow Loop is disrupted.

Sources