Location | London, UK |
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Proposer | Campaign for Better Transport |
Project website | Brent Cross campaign page at the Wayback Machine (archived 30 September 2009) |
Status | Proposal |
Type | Light rail |
Stakeholders | Campaign for Better Transport and Barnet, Brent, Harrow, Ealing councils |
North & West London Light Railway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The North and West London Light Railway (NWLLR), formerly known as the Brent Cross Railway, is a proposal for a light rail system in North and West London in the UK. It was put forward by the London group of the Campaign for Better Transport and by the Coalition for a Sustainable Brent Cross Cricklewood. [1]
The proposal, published in 2008, envisaged a rapid transit network using existing or abandoned railway corridors and would have been similar to the Docklands Light Railway (DLR). [2] It was promoted in the context of the Brent Cross Shopping Centre expansion project, a major urban planning scheme that involves the redevelopment of Brent Cross and northern Cricklewood. [3] The stated aim was to alleviate anticipated traffic problems when this development goes ahead. [4] [5]
The NWLLR has not been approved or funded.
The Campaign for Better Transport aimed to reduce CO2 emissions, pollution and cars on the roads. It has said that high-intensity bus services in Brent Cross create more pollution and traffic jams. [6]
The route would have had 34 stations on four lines: [7]
The proposal suggested that the service could be light rail, similar to the Docklands Light Railway. The core proposal envisaged a line running east–west across north London from Brent Cross to Park Royal, [5] with extensions to Ealing Broadway and Wembley Stadium, and a new line running north–south from Finchley Central through Brent Cross to Finchley Road.
The routes would have used a combination of existing passenger railway lines, freight lines and disused lines, linked by stretches of new track. The network was to include the Dudding Hill Line, the Ealing Broadway branch of the Central line and freight tracks parallel to the Midland Main Line. [4]
The proposal had limited support from some local councils, but lacked the funding or support from the Greater London Authority that is necessary to undertake project costings or a feasibility study. The proposal was not supported by the site developers at Brent Cross and relied on changes being made to their plans. [4]
In April 2009, Ealing Council voted to call on Transport for London to look into the proposal and discuss its strategic potential with neighbouring councils. [8] Harrow Council gave its support in principle, but stating that unless Transport for London provided "funding for a feasibility study to examine this proposal ... no more public money should be directed towards this proposal." [9] In 2009 Brian Coleman, the mayor of Barnet and London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden, said "It's not feasible, it won't happen. Ideas like this are thought up by men who probably still have a train set in the attic." [10] Later that year, Barnet Council voted to request the developers to maintain contact with the light rail promoters. [11] In January 2011, Brent Council voted to call on Transport for London to look into the proposal and discuss its strategic potential with neighbouring councils. [12] [13] In January 2014, Barnet Council voted that "much-needed orbital rail links should be investigated, routes safeguarded and included in financial planning", but it removed a reference in the original motion to "light-rail". [14]
In April 2019, £320M of funding was approved for a new Brent Cross West station, that would also serve the potential new service. [15]
A similar proposal was put forward by West London Business in 2008 to build a Surbiton-to-Brent Cross underground railway, called the West London Orbital. [16] In 2009, the London Assembly proposed using the Dudding Hill Line section of the route for a new London Overground service. [17] From 2016 a different scheme of the same name was developed by the West London Alliance boroughs, TfL and the GLA. This scheme features in the 2018 Mayor's Transport Strategy. [18]
Cricklewood is an area of London, England, which spans the boundaries of the London Borough of Barnet to the east, and the London Borough of Brent to the west. The Crown pub, now the Clayton Crown Hotel, is a local landmark and lies 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Charing Cross.
Neasden is a suburban area in northwest London, England. It is located around the centre of the London Borough of Brent and is within the NW2 (Cricklewood) and NW10 (Willesden) postal districts. Neasden is near Wembley Stadium, the Welsh Harp, and Gladstone Park; the reservoir and River Brent marks its boundaries with Kingsbury and Wembley, while Gladstone Park and the Dudding Hill line separates it from Dollis Hill and Church End respectively. The A406 North Circular Road runs through the middle of Neasden; to the west is the Neasden Underground Depot, Brent Park retail area and the St Raphael's Estate; on the east is Neasden tube station, the large Neasden Temple, and former Neasden Power Station. The area is known as the place where Bob Marley lived after moving from Jamaica, living at a house in The Circle; the house was honoured with a blue plaque in 2012.
The London Borough of Barnet is a local authority area on the northern outskirts of London. The borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the second largest London borough by population with 389,344 inhabitants as of 2021, also making it the 17th largest district in England. The borough covers an area of 86.74 square kilometres (33 sq mi), the fourth highest of the 32 London boroughs, and has a population density of 45.8 people per hectare, which ranks it 25th.
Neasden is a London Underground station in Neasden. It is on the Jubilee line, between Wembley Park and Dollis Hill stations. Metropolitan line trains pass through the station but do not stop. The Chiltern Main Line/London to Aylesbury Line runs to the west of the station.
Ealing Broadway is a major single-level interchange station located in Ealing, in the London Borough of Ealing, West London for London Underground services and also Elizabeth line services on the National Rail Great Western Main Line.
Brent Cross is a major traffic interchange and area in the London Borough of Barnet, England. Originally the name of a crossroads, it is located a mile from the centres of Hendon and Golders Green. Notably, the Brent Cross Shopping Centre, a major retail facility, was opened in 1976, south of the interchange. The "Brent Cross Flyover" A41 runs to the east of the shopping centre over the A406 North Circular Road, while the M1 motorway and A5 Edgware Road are to the west at Staples Corner interchange. In addition, the Northern line and Thameslink rail routes run on viaducts.
The River Brent is a river in west and northwest London, England, and a tributary of the River Thames. 17.9 miles (28.8 km) in length, it rises in the Borough of Barnet and flows in a generally south-west direction before joining the Tideway stretch of the Thames at Brentford.
Cricklewood railway station is on the Midland Main Line in England, serving the town of Cricklewood in the London Borough of Barnet, north London. It is 5 miles 9 chains (8.2 km) down the line from St Pancras and is situated between West Hampstead Thameslink to the south and Brent Cross West to the north. Its three-letter station code is CRI.
Park Royal is an area in Northwest London, England, divided between the London Borough of Ealing and the London Borough of Brent.
Grahame Park, located on the site of the old Hendon Aerodrome in North West London, is a north London housing estate in the London Borough of Barnet, including 1,777 council homes built in the 1970s.
Old Oak Common (OOC) is a railway station under construction on the site of the Old Oak Common traction maintenance depot to the west of London in Old Oak Common, approximately 500 m (1,600 ft) south of Willesden Junction station. When built, it is expected to be one of the largest rail hubs in London, at about 800 m (2,600 ft) in length and 20 m (66 ft) below surface level.
The Dudding Hill Line is a railway line in west and north-west London running from Acton to Cricklewood. It is roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) long, with a 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) speed limit, and semaphore signalling. The line has no scheduled passenger service, no stations, and is not electrified. It is lightly used by freight trains and, very occasionally, passenger charter trains.
West Hampstead is a station on the Mildmay line of the London Overground, located on West End Lane in the London Borough of Camden. Located in Travelcard Zone 2, it is situated between Brondesbury and Finchley Road & Frognal stations.
Dudding Hill railway station was a station in Neasden, London NW2 on the Dudding Hill Line.
Harlesden railway station was a station in northwest London on the south side of the southern section of a road called Craven Park, which is part of the A404 Harrow Road between Paddington and Wembley. The station was sometimes known as Harrow Road or as Stonebridge Park.
The Acton–Northolt line (ANL), otherwise known as the New North Main Line (NNML), is a railway line in West London, England. Built between 1903 and 1906, it runs from the Great Western Main Line at Old Oak Common TMD to the Chiltern Main Line at South Ruislip, alongside the West Ruislip branch of the London Underground Central line, for a distance of around 11 miles (18 km).
Gladstone Park is situated in the Dollis Hill area of north-west London. It is about 35 hectares in area.
The West London Orbital is a proposed extension to the London Overground railway system. The extension would make use of a combination of existing freight and passenger lines including the Dudding Hill Line, North London Line and Hounslow Loop. The route would run for approximately 11 miles (17 km) from West Hampstead and Hendon at the northern end to Hounslow at the western end via Brent Cross West, Neasden, Harlesden, Old Oak Common, South Acton and Brentford.
Brent Cross West is a railway station on the Thameslink route and on the Midland Main Line. The station serves Brent Cross and the northern parts of Cricklewood and Dollis Hill areas of north London. The station is part of the Brent Cross Cricklewood development, which also sees an investment to Cricklewood station further down the line. The station was opened on 10 December 2023.
Brent Cross Cricklewood is a new town centre development under construction in Hendon and Cricklewood, London, United Kingdom. The development is planned to cost around £4.5 billion to construct and will include 6,700 homes, workspace for 25,000 people, four parks, transport improvements and a 592,000 sq ft (55,000 m2) extension of Brent Cross Shopping Centre. The developers of the scheme are Hammerson and Standard Life.
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