Project development leading to construction of Crossrail
This article is about the history of Crossrail prior to construction starting. For the construction of Crossrail, see Crossrail §Construction.
The Crossrail line was first proposed in 1941. It was first proposed to Parliament in 1991 but was rejected. It was then proposed by the government as the Crossrail bill in 2005. Construction started in 2009 and, heavily delayed, the central section was opened by Elizabeth II on 24 May 2022 with full completion due in 2023.
Central London Rail Study proposes three Crossrail schemes, including an east–west Paddington/Marylebone–Liverpool Street route
1991
Private bill promoted by London Underground and British Rail submitted to Parliament proposing a Paddington–Liverpool Street tunnel; it is rejected in 1994
2001
Crossrail scheme promoted through Cross London Rail Links (CLRL)
2004
Senior railway managers promote an expanded regional Superlink scheme
The concept of large-diameter tunnels crossing central London to connect Paddington in the west and Liverpool Street in the east was first proposed by railwayman George Dow in The Star newspaper in June 1941.[1] Dow also proposed north–south lines, anticipating the Thameslink lines of post-war years. The project that became Crossrail has origins in the 1943 County of London Plan and 1944 Greater London Plan by Patrick Abercrombie. These led to a specialist investigation by the Railway (London Plan) Committee, appointed in 1944 and reporting in 1946 and 1948.[2] "Route A" would have run from Loughborough Junction to Euston, replacing Blackfriars Bridge and serving largely the same purpose as the Thameslink Programme. "Route F" would have connected Lewisham with Kilburn via Fenchurch Street, Bank, Ludgate Circus, Trafalgar Square, Marble Arch and Marylebone. This was seen as a lower priority than "Route A", but "Route C" was the only one built, as the Victoria line, and with smaller-diameter tube tunnels.
The term '"Crossrail" emerged in the 1974 London Rail Study Report by a steering group set up by the Department of the Environment (DoE) and the Greater London Council (GLC) to look at future transport needs and strategic plans for London and the south-east.[3] The report contained several options for new lines and extensions: the development of the Jubilee line (then called the "Fleet line") to Fenchurch Street; the Jubilee Line Extension ("River line") project; and the Chelsea–Hackney line. The reopening of the Snow Hill Tunnel was proposed, as were two deep-level lines:[4][5] the Northern Tunnel from Paddington to Liverpool Street, and the Southern Tunnel from Victoria to London Bridge.
The 1974 study estimated that 14,000 passengers would be carried in the peak hour in the Northern Tunnel between Paddington and Marble Arch and 21,000 between Liverpool Street and Ludgate Circus, which would also carry freight. Higher estimates were made for the Southern Tunnel. It commented that "Crossrail" would be similar to the Paris RER and the Hamburg S-Bahn. Reference was also made to through-services to Heathrow Airport. Although the idea was seen as imaginative, only a brief estimate of cost was given: £300million. A feasibility study was recommended as a high priority so that the practicability and costs of the scheme could be determined. It was also suggested that the alignment of the tunnels should be safeguarded[6][non-primary source needed] while a final decision was taken.
Later proposals
The Central London Rail Study of 1989 proposed standard (British Rail) structure gauge tunnels linking the existing rail network as the "East–West Crossrail", "City Crossrail", and "North–South Crossrail" schemes. The east–west scheme was for a line from Liverpool Street to Paddington/Marylebone with two connections at its western end linking the tunnel to the Great Western Main Line and the Metropolitan line on the Underground. The City route was shown as a new connection across the City of London linking the Great Northern Route with London Bridge. The north–south line proposed routing West Coast Main Line, Thameslink, and Great Northern trains through Euston and King's Cross/St Pancras, then under the West End via Tottenham Court Road, Piccadilly Circus and Victoria towards Crystal Palace and Hounslow. The report also recommended a number of other schemes including a "Thameslink Metro" route enhancement, and the Chelsea–Hackney line. The cost of the east–west scheme including rolling stock was estimated at £885million.[7]
In 1991, a private bill was submitted to Parliament for a scheme including a new underground line from Paddington to Liverpool Street.[8] The bill was promoted by London Underground and British Rail, and supported by the government; it was rejected by the Private Bill Committee in 1994[9] on the grounds that a case had not been made, though the government issued "Safeguarding Directions", protecting the route from any development that would jeopardise future schemes.[10]
In 2001, Cross London Rail Links (CLRL), a 50/50 joint-venture between Transport for London (TfL) and the Department for Transport (DfT), was formed to develop and promote the Crossrail scheme,[11] and also a Wimbledon–Hackney scheme. In 2003 and 2004, over 50days of exhibitions were held to explain the proposals at over 30 different locations.[12][non-primary source needed]
Superlink proposal
A more ambitious proposal named "Superlink" was proposed in 2004, at an estimated cost of £13billion, including additional infrastructure work outside London: in addition to Crossrail's east– west tunnel, lines would connect towns including Cambridge, Ipswich, Southend-on-Sea, Pitsea, Reading, Basingstoke and Northampton. According to the scheme's promoters, the line would carry four times as many passengers and require a lower public subsidy as a result.[13]
In 2005, ahead of Crossrail's hybrid bill submission, a number of feeder routes were considered by CLRL west of Paddington and east of Liverpool Street. It was viewed given the 24 trains per hour core frequency that two feeder routes each of 12 trains per hour could be taken forward.[16]
In the west, a route to Maidenhead (later extended to Reading) and Heathrow Airport was selected. A route to Kingston using the North London Line west of Turnham Green and part of the Kingston Loop Line west of Richmond was discounted due to conflicts between Kingston Loop services and major construction impacts in the Kingston area, as well as closure of the Richmond District Line branch. A route to High Wycombe joining the Chiltern Main Line using the Greenford to South Ruislip connection was discounted due to conflicts between Chiltern services as well as limited crowding relief. A route to Watford Junction joining the West Coast Main Line at Willesden Junction (later forming part of proposals to extend further to Tring) was discounted due to limited crowding relief and the requirement to relocate the now demolished Old Oak Common TMD at Willesden Junction. Routes were also considered using former and current Metropolitan line tracks joining at Wembley Park. The first option extending to the Watford and Uxbridge branches of the Metropolitan line was discounted due to the existing strong City of London connections afforded by the Metropolitan line. Another option via Aylesbury (via Amersham) and Chesham performed strongly, however was discounted due to contractual conflicts with the then Chiltern franchise and Metropolitan line PPP concession.
In the east, routes to Abbey Wood (curtailed from Ebbsfleet to avoid conflicts with the North Kent lines) and Shenfield were selected. Two routes using the Tilbury line to Grays were considered. The first, following the eventual Shenfield route to Forest Gate and the GOBLIN to Barking was discounted due to significant impacts in the Forest Gate area, and that it would need to be combined with the Shenfield route and thus preclude any route through Canary Wharf. A second route performed better, taking the eventual Abbey Wood branch as far as Custom House, then following the old Beckton alignment through Barking Riverside and joining the Tilbury line at Dagenham Dock, but was discounted due to requiring extensive additional tunneling.
Two routes to Abbey Wood were considered and performed the strongest - in addition to the route selected, an alternative ran through the Greenwich Peninsula and joined the Woolwich line at Charlton. While cheaper than the selected option, this was discounted due to potential conflicts with Southeastern services, significant impacts to the Charlton area, and difficulties identifying feasible station sites on the Greenwich Peninsula.
The selected Shenfield branch was shown to have lower economic benefits than other routes selected, but was chosen due to the improved accessibility into Stratford and the Olympic Park regeneration area, and significant crowding benefits on the Shenfield Metro routes which would release additional capacity for Lee Valley services.
Approval
The Crossrail Bill 2005, a hybrid bill, went through Parliament. The Crossrail Bill Select Committee met between December 2005 and October 2007.[17] It announced an interim decision in July 2006, which called on the promoter to add a station at Woolwich. The Government initially responded that it would not do so as it would jeopardise the affordability of the whole scheme, but the addition of this station was later agreed. While the Bill was still in discussion, Transport SecretaryRuth Kelly issued safeguarding directions in force from January 2008, which protect the path of the proposal and certain extensions beyond it from development which might prevent the Crossrail proposal or possible future extensions.[18]
In February 2008, the Bill moved to the House of Lords, where it was amended by a committee of peers. It received royal assent on 22 July 2008 as the Crossrail Act 2008.[19][20] It is accompanied by an environmental impact statement, plans and other related information.[21] The Act gives CLRL the powers necessary to build the line. In November 2008, while announcing an agreement for a £230million contribution from BAA, Transport Minister Andrew Adonis confirmed that funding was still in place despite the global economic downturn.[22] On 4 December 2008, it was announced that TfL and the DfT had signed the Crossrail Sponsors' Agreement. This commits them to financing the project, then projected to cost £15.9billion, with further contributions from Network Rail, BAA and the City of London. The accompanying Crossrail Sponsors' Requirements commits them to the construction of the full scheme.[citation needed]
On 15 May 2009, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Mayor of London Boris Johnson attended a ceremony at Canary Wharf to mark the start of construction.[23] On 7 September 2009, the project received £1billion in funding. The money was lent to TfL by the European Investment Bank.[24]
In the lead-up to the 2010 general election, both the Labour and Conservative parties made manifesto commitments to deliver the railway. The Transport Secretary appointed in May 2010 confirmed that the coalition government was committed to the project.[25] The original planned schedule was that the first trains would run in 2017. In 2010, a Comprehensive Spending Review identified savings of over £1billion in projected costs, achieved by a simpler, but slower, tunnelling strategy to reduce the number of tunnel boring machines and access shafts required, with trains planned to run on the central section from 2018.[26]
The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea was pushing for an additional station in the north of the borough, east of Old Oak Common, at Kensal[28][29] off Ladbroke Grove and Canal Way. A turn-back facility, now built west of Paddington, could have been sited at Kensal to provide a frequent service to a new station to regenerate that area.[30][31][32] Former MayorBoris Johnson agreed that a station would be added if it met three tests: it must not delay construction of Crossrail, it did not compromise performance of Crossrail or any other railway, and it must not increase Crossrail's overall cost. So the council agreed to underwrite the projected £33million cost,[33] and a consultancy study that then concluded a Kensal station would not compromise Crossrail.
TfL conducted a feasibility study on the station,[34] and the project was supported by local MPs and residents, the National Grid, and some retailers.[35] It was also supported by the adjoining London Borough of Brent.[36] However, all three Mayoral tests set have not been met, and in early 2013 it was indicated that neither the DfT nor TfL supported the construction of the station, and Crossrail construction continued without planning for a station at Kensal. There was official closure of the issue in April 2013.[37]
The plans were briefly resurrected by Johnson in 2016,[38][39] but not by incoming Mayor Sadiq Khan.[40]
Related Research Articles
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the United Kingdom. It includes affluent areas such as Notting Hill, Kensington, South Kensington, Chelsea, and Knightsbridge.
Crossrail is a completed railway project centred around London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, known as the Elizabeth line, that crosses the capital from suburbs on the west to east and connects two major railway lines terminating in London: the Great Western Main Line and the Great Eastern Main Line. The project was approved in 2007, and construction began in 2009 on the central section and connections to existing lines that became part of the route, which has been named the Elizabeth line in honour of Queen Elizabeth II who opened the line on 17 May 2022 during her Platinum Jubilee. The central section of the line between Paddington and Abbey Wood opened on 24 May 2022, with 12 trains per hour running in each direction through the core section in Central London.
West Ealing railway station is on the Great Western Main Line in Ealing, situated in west London. It is 6 miles 46 chains (10.6 km) down the line from London Paddington and is situated between Ealing Broadway to the east and Hanwell to the west. Its three-letter station code is WEA.
The Great Eastern Main Line is a 114.5-mile (184.3 km) major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and the East of England, including Shenfield, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich. Its numerous branches also connect the main line to Southminster, Braintree, Sudbury, Harwich and a number of coastal towns including Southend-on-Sea, Clacton-on-Sea, Walton-on-the-Naze and Lowestoft.
Romford railway station is an interchange station on the Great Eastern Main Line, serving the town of Romford in the London Borough of Havering, east London. It is 12 miles 30 chains (19.9 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Chadwell Heath and Gidea Park. It is also the northern terminus of a branch line to Upminster operated by London Overground. Its three-letter station code is RMF and it is in Travelcard Zone 6.
Ladbroke Grove is an area and a road in North Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, passing through Kensal Green and Notting Hill, running north–south between Harrow Road and Holland Park Avenue.
Gidea Park railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line, serving the neighbourhood of Gidea Park in Romford, located in the London Borough of Havering, east London. It is 13 miles 41 chains (21.7 km) down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between Romford and Harold Wood. Its three-letter station code is GDP and it is in Travelcard zone 6. The station is managed and served by the Elizabeth line.
Heathrow Connect was a train service in London provided jointly by Heathrow Express and Great Western Railway (GWR), between Paddington station and Heathrow Airport. The service followed the same route as the non-stop Heathrow Express service but called at certain intermediate stations, connecting several locations in West London with each other, the airport, and Central London. It ran every half-hour throughout the day and evening. The service was launched on 12 June 2005 and ceased on 19 May 2018, when it was absorbed into the TfL Rail concession, in advance of becoming part of the Elizabeth line once it opened on 24 May 2022.
North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area.
North Pole depot is a railway and maintenance depot built for Great Western Railway's AT300 units from the Hitachi A-train family. Located in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, the depot was partially redeveloped by Agility Trains from 2013 as a maintenance site when they were awarded the Intercity Express Programme.
Crossrail 2 is a suspended proposal for a hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit route in South East England, running from nine stations in Surrey to three in Hertfordshire, providing a new North–South rail link across Greater London. It would connect the South West Main Line to the West Anglia Main Line, via Victoria and King's Cross St Pancras. The intent was to alleviate severe overcrowding that would otherwise occur on commuter rail routes into Central London. When first proposed, the hope was for construction to start around 2023, with the new line opening from the early 2030s. The project's cost has been estimated at £31.2 billion.
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.
King's Road Chelsea railway station is a proposed station on Crossrail 2, a planned underground railway line through London in the United Kingdom. If constructed, the station would serve the King's Road area of Chelsea.
The Bakerloo line extension is a proposed extension of the London Underground Bakerloo line in South London from its current terminus at Elephant & Castle to Lewisham station.
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.
Ladbroke Grove is a proposed railway station in London, England on the Crossrail Route between Old Oak Common and Paddington. This is not part of the internal route and would be added at a later stage. Locals want the station to be called Portobello Central to serve the nearby Portobello Market. It was originally called Kensal.
The British Rail Class 345 Aventra is a fleet of electric multiple unit passenger trains built by Bombardier Transportation for use on London's Elizabeth line. Part of Bombardier's Aventra family of trains, the contract for their delivery was awarded as part of the Crossrail project in February 2014. A total of 70 nine-car units – each able to carry 1,500passengers – were constructed in Derby between 2015 and 2019, at a cost of over £1billion. The first unit entered service on 22 June 2017.
TfL Rail was the concession which operated commuter services on two separate railway lines in London, England and its environs whilst the Crossrail construction project linking these lines was underway. It ran from 2015 until May 2022, upon the opening of the Crossrail central section, when TfL Rail was rebranded as Elizabeth line and the name was discontinued.
The Elizabeth line is a high-frequency hybrid urban–suburban rail service in London and its suburbs. It runs services on dedicated infrastructure in central London from the Great Western Main Line west of Paddington station to Abbey Wood and via Whitechapel to the Great Eastern Main Line near Stratford; along the Great Western Main Line to Reading and Heathrow Airport in the west; and along the Great Eastern Main Line to Shenfield in the east. The service is named after Queen Elizabeth II, who officially opened the line on 17 May 2022 during her Platinum Jubilee year; passenger services started on 24 May 2022. Despite being named under the same system as London Underground lines, and having sections which are underground, the Elizabeth line is not classified as a London Underground line.
Over the years, a number of transport proposals have been made to improve public access to Heathrow Airport, near London in the United Kingdom.
References
↑ Dow, Andrew (2005). Telling the Passenger Where to Get Off. London: Capital Transport. pp.52–55. ISBN9781854142917.
↑ Jackson, Alan A.; Croome, Desmond F. (1962). Rails Through The Clay. London: Allen & Unwin. pp.309–312. OCLC55438.
↑ London Rail Study Report Part 2, pub. GLC/DoE 1974, page 87–88
↑ British Rail (Network SouthEast); London Regional Transport; London Underground (January 1989). "Central London Rail Study". Department of Transport. pp.11–16, maps 3, 6 & 7. Archived from the original on 9 September 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
↑ "Sponsors and Partners". Crossrail. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 4 March 2017. Crossrail Limited is the company charged with delivering Crossrail. Formerly known as Cross London Rail Links (CLRL), it was created in 2001 [..] Established as a 50/50 joint venture company between Transport for London and the Department for Transport, Crossrail Limited became a wholly owned subsidiary of TfL on 5 December 2008
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