Since its formation in 1997, WestTrans has gone from strength to strength in terms of delivering transport projects on the ground and in contributing to regional and London-wide policy.

The six West London Boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow have worked together since 1997 on transport issues of common concern, originally under the name of the West London Transport Strategy (WLTS).

The partnership, led by Ealing Council, provides support on transport issues to West London Business and West London Alliance, and liaises closely with other key stakeholders such as Park Royal Partnership, the education & training and health & voluntary sector organisations.

Since its inception, through TfL’s LIP programme, each year WestTrans has been successful in securing significant levels of funding to support the many and varied initiatives that it has implemented and continues to develop. This year WestTrans has secured £1.225m for the development of schemes, and has the potential to implement a further £670k of improvements subject to funding. Initiatives include:

• freight projects (coordinated through the West London Freight Quality Partnership);
• Travel Planning initiatives;
• strategy development;
• station access schemes.

The Partnership has and continues to face significant challenges in meeting transport demand, reliability and quality issues that are presented as a result of economic expansion and growth associated with development and leisure activities in the region. With an economy larger than that of Frankfurt, West London already has a very broad spectrum of businesses and employment and has benefited from the proximity to Heathrow as the primary ‘International Gateway to Britain’.