Crossrail

Treasury unlikely to back Crossrail 2 for years

Crossrail 2 is unlikely to be one of the infrastructure projects funded by the Treasury in the next spending review, Chancellor George Osborne has suggested.

He is reported to think that it would be wrong to consider investing another £12bn on a second major rail scheme in the capital until the work on the existing £16bn project is complete in 2018.

The TfL consultation on proposed routes for Crossrail 2 opened earlier this month, with the key debate whether to push for a ‘metro’ option from Wimbledon in the south to Alexandra Palacce in the north, or a more extensive ‘regional’ option that would see services out to Epson, Twickenham and Cheshunt or even further.

TfL said: “The ‘metro’ option could offer a high frequency underground service across central London. This option could be an underground railway and could operate between Wimbledon and Alexandra Palace. The route would relieve congestion on trains and platforms on the Northern, Piccadilly and Victoria lines.

“The ‘regional’ option could benefit people in Hertfordshire, Surrey and beyond by enabling more trains to run on busy National Rail routes. This route could be a combined underground and overground railway and could operate from Alexandra Palace and stations in Hertfordshire to various locations in southwest London and Surrey.”

Mayor of London Boris Johnson said pressing ahead with Crossrail 2 is “quite simply essential”, as even with work starting now it would not open until 2030, by which time London will need huge amounts of extra rail capacity to cope with growth.

The consultation, which acts as a review of the safeguarded Chelsea-Hackney route, is open until August 2 – have your say here: www.crossrail2.co.uk  

A flythrough of the proposed routes is available here: youtu.be/uKoUqjeBT0Q 

RTM’s recent report on the challenges Crossrail 2 would represent and our interview with David Leam, who has been leading on the project for London First, is available here: www.railtechnologymagazine.com/Rail-Industry-Focus-/crossrail-2

Tell us what you think – have your say below or email [email protected]

(Proposed Crossrail route maps copyright TfL Press)