Commuters will soon benefit from new trains and direct access to central London and Heathrow airport after improvement works begun at Romford Station on Monday.

The works, carried out by Havering Council, are designed to improve the area around the station and make interchange with buses and pedestrian access easier.

A spokesman for Havering Council said works will continue until Saturday, November 26.

“This is so works do not interfere with the Christmas retail trade,” he said. “Works will restart early January and are due to be finished in spring although we have no specific date.”

The measures will compliment Crossrail improvements which will include an upgraded facade, a better ticket hall with revised entrances, new lifts and platform extensions to accommodate the new 200 metre long Elizabeth Line trains.

Havering Council was awarded £4.1million in November 2014 to transform areas around Romford, Gidea Park and Harold Wood stations - the borough’s three Elizabeth line stations.

The council’s contractor, Marlborough, started work on the eastern side of South Street along the stretch of pavement between the junctions with Eastern Road and Victoria Road.

The works will include providing step free access to buses stopping outside the Haart estate agency offices.

Additional works will deliver better lighting, signage, tree planting, bins and seating along with the creation of a larger pedestrian plaza to accommodate more commuters.

Deputy cabinet member for environment, Cllr Jason Frost, said: “These works will make travelling to and from Romford station a much more pleasant experience.”

From May next year, the new trains will be introduced between Shenfield and Liverpool Street but the line is expected to be fully open from December 2019.

When all works are completed, Havering commuters will be able to travel straight through to central London without having to change trains.

Information on Crossrail’s website states: “At peak times 12 trains an hour will run between Shenfield and central London, calling at all stations.

“An additional four trains an hour will run between Gidea Park and the existing Liverpool Street station, westwards in the morning peak and eastwards in the evening peak.”

When the new service is running it is expected that journey times to several destinations will be reduced.

Journeys from Romford Station to Paddington are likely to change from 56 minutes to 37 minutes, Bond Street from 44 to 34 minutes and Canary Wharf from 37 to 27 minutes.