London Assembly member for Ealing and Hillingdon Bassam Mahfouz has renewed calls for urgent action to improve accessibility at Ealing Broadway station, after again highlighting the continuing gap between the platform and Elizabeth line trains – an issue he described as “unsafe” and “simply not on”.
In a video filmed at the station earlier this month (October 2025), Mr Mahfouz spoke with Harvey, a wheelchair user who described the difficulty of boarding trains using a steep ramp.
Harvey said: “Every time I travel I have to negotiate this steep ramp. The risk of an accident to me, to the staff helping – it’s stressful, and it’s not right.”
Standing beside him on the platform, Mr Mahfouz said the situation remained dangerous for wheelchair users, parents with buggies and anyone with mobility issues.
Mr Mahfouz commented: “This isn’t just inconvenient, it’s unsafe. Accessible transport isn’t a luxury, it’s a right. And I’ll keep fighting until everyone can travel with confidence and dignity on our rail network.”
He said his efforts to secure improvements have been ongoing, pressing Network Rail and Transport for London (TfL) to deliver the long-promised changes. While the Mayor of London and TfL have introduced extra staff and safety measures at the station, Mr Mahfouz added: “these are only temporary fixes – until this gap is closed, people are still being left behind, or worse, injured.”
In a letter sent to Andy Lord, the TfL commissioner, dated 21 October 2025, Mr Mahfouz wrote that he had “been waiting since the end of March 2025” to hear what steps Network Rail and TfL would take to resolve the issue. He said a report promised by the commissioner for March had still not been received, despite repeated follow-ups.
Earlier this year, EALING.NEWS reported that during a City Hall meeting on 3 July 2025, Mr Mahfouz told Commissioner Lord that progress on safety at Ealing Broadway had been “too slow”. The report said TfL acknowledged that interim safety measures, including extra staff on the platforms, had reduced incidents, but that a long-term engineering solution was still being developed in partnership with Network Rail.
Mr Mahfouz said: “The Mayor of London apologised to Ealing Broadway commuters in July last year and took immediate actions. Since then, I have been promised reports from Network Rail, who have responsibility for closing the unacceptable gap at the station. Having reached out four times on the issue — enough is enough.
“Accessibility is a right, not a luxury – we’ve been waiting long enough for the report on what solutions can be delivered both in the short and the long term.
“I have written again to the TfL Commissioner and Network Rail asking for a proposed route forward for Ealing Broadway, calling for their report to be published urgently.”
TfL said it continues to work with Network Rail on options to improve the platform–train interface at Ealing Broadway. Network Rail has not yet published the feasibility report it was expected to share earlier this year.
