Station work restarts after £7m blunder

Work has finally begun to re-build a railway station, six months after it was due to open.

Shepherd's Bush station was deemed unsuitable for public use when it was completed last year at a cost of £12 million, as the platform was 18 inches too narrow to cope with the anticipated volume of passengers.

Workers also built the eastern platform wall in the wrong place.

Developer Westfield, due to open a huge shopping centre in the area in October, was told to find an extra £7 million to pay for an extension. Last month workmen moved in to rebuild part of the wall.

Nick Woolven, of the West London Line Group which campaigns for passengers' rights, said the errors had reduced the scheme to a farce. "What nobody knows is who got out their tape measure and made that decision," he said. "I would be pretty hacked off if I was a commuter in that area."

A spokesman for Network Rail, which is overseeing the project, said he hoped the new Overground station would be open by the end of the year.

He said planners had not taken into account the number of passengers changing between the station and the Tube. A Hammersmith & Fulham council spokesman said Westfield aimed to open the station by the time the shopping complex opens - 10 months after the original deadline.