28.10.15
Crossrail 2 seeks views on route, design and train frequency
Transport for London (TfL) and Network Rail have kick-started public consultation on the route, locations of station entrances, ventilation shafts and train frequencies of Crossrail 2 today (28 October).
The consultation is a necessary hurdle to overcome to deliver the railway project, which would serve central London through an underground tunnelled section between Wimbledon and Tottenham Hale and New Southgate, connecting with existing National Rail networks in Surrey and Hertfordshire.
There have already been two consultations on the scheme which, according to the organisations, indicated “overwhelming support” for the railway. Feedback from these consultations was used to feed into more detailed proposals.
Today’s consultation now seeks views on:
- Proposed station locations, entrances and exists for the tunnelled section of the route
- Proposed locations of ventilation shafts for the tunnelled section
- Proposed construction sites required to build and operate the tunnelled section of the scheme
- Proposed service patterns and changes to existing National Rail services
- Source: Network Rail
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP, said: “Crossrail 2 is a major infrastructure project and so it’s vital that we get it right from the start. This consultation is key to helping us to fine tune the proposals and to ensure that everyone with a view on Crossrail 2 can have their say and is listened to.”
Michele Dix, TfL’s managing director of Crossrail 2, added that, as the railway continues to develop, they will be taking on board feedback from this consultation to inform the project’s design ahead of its launch in 2030.
Factsheets, maps and more information, as well as the consultation itself, are available at the Crossrail 2 website.
Drop-in events will also be held along the length of the route and key stations including Waterloo and Liverpool Street between 2 November and 18 December, during which TfL and Network Rail staff will be available to explain proposals and answer questions.
The consultation will run until 8 January 2016, but there will be further consultation on the scheme as it progresses. The results of this particular consultation and the outcomes of the Crossrail 2 Growth Commission are expected in spring 2016 in order to inform a submission to the government to gain development consent.
Subject to government funding and approval, construction could begin in 2020 with the first service operational by 2030.
Controversial consultation plans
The project intends to relieve the growing demand on London’s transport network, which faces significant pressures even after Crossrail and ongoing improvements to London Underground are completed.
It would provide capacity for an extra 270,000 people to access central London during the morning break by increasing the number of trains from major destinations across south west London and Surrey (including Wimbledon, New Malden, Kingston and Epsom) and across north east London and Hertfordshire (including Tottenham Hale, Waltham Cross, Cheshunt and Broxbourne).
Crossrail 2 could also alleviate pressure on some of the most congested lines on the National Rail network, which could then be used to run additional longer distance services from Hampshire and Surrey into Waterloo and from Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire into Liverpool Street during peak periods.
The programme is also expected to drive improvements beyond the south east, with more than 800 destinations country-wide being within just one interchange of a Crossrail 2 station – including towns in the midlands and the north, such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester.
According to Network Rail, the scheme would also create 60,000 full-time jobs focused on the construction and operation of the project, as well as across the UK in engineering, construction and manufacturing through its supply chain. It has also been estimated by KPMG that Crossrail 2 could contribute up to £102bn to the UK’s economy through boosted productivity.
But the project’s current revised plans have not been well-received by everyone, with Camden Council voicing intensified concerns over the future of Euston as a result.
It claimed the plans enclosed in the consultation show that around 130 homes and 17 businesses may be directly affected by its construction. Houses owned by the council or housing association could be replaced by construction sites, ventilation shafts and station entrance works.
A 151-bed Travelodge, businesses on Eversholt Street, the Royal Green Public House and more than 160 privately-owned homes could also be threatened by plans if they go ahead in their current form.
Cllr Phil Jones, cabinet member for regeneration, transport and planning at the council, said: “We’re bitterly disappointed that these latest plans for Crossrail 2 heap unnecessary additional disruption and worry on Camden’s residents and businesses.
“TfL want to build much of their Crossrail 2 infrastructure inside a brand new Euston station given it would be much better for passengers and the local area. However, they have now come up with this inadequate alternative as the direct result of the current failings at Euston.
“Integrating Crossrail 2 with a comprehensive Euston station redevelopment is the only way to avoid more unacceptable loss of homes and businesses in Somers Town, minimise construction disruption in Camden and create a world-class station with a superb connectivity and new on-site homes and jobs.”