London Overground’s West London Orbital extension study due soon
Work on a proposed West London Orbital extension of the London Overground is still ongoing, but the early feasibility report is nearly ready for TfL and the local councils to consider.
If built, the West London Orbital (WLO) could link Hounslow to Old Oak Common via Neasden and then head to either Brent Cross West and/or West Hampstead. The plans have been under development since 2017, but as always, how to pay for the railway upgrade is the key issue.
The plan is to convert a little-used freight railway line that runs from just north of Cricklewood on the Thameslink line and loops around West London, ever so slightly just missing aligning with several stations on existing lines until it joins up with the London Overground at Acton. Then, the line could take over some existing mainline tracks down towards Hounslow.
It would likely include new junctions at Neasden, Harlesden and new stations at Old Oak Common, and Lionel Road next to Brentford Community Stadium, on the site of the disused Kew station that closed in 1862.
In 2022, TfL confirmed that the economic case seemed fairly strong and that a benefit/cost ratio of between 1.6 and 2.3 would be positive.
In a written answer, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said that the current feasibility design stage is “nearing completion, with final transport modelling and economic outputs expected in the coming weeks, which will inform whether the project should proceed to the next stage of design development.”
If that report is favourable, then funding from TfL and local councils would be required to develop the plans further, which is likely to take until the end of next year. The Mayor said that this final report would inform a decision on whether to prepare a Transport & Works Act Order application for the scheme in the late 2020s.
If all the cards fall into place, then in maybe a decade’s time, it will be possible to catch a passenger train over a railway line that last saw regular passenger services over a century ago.
Has TfL ever considered sharing the line from Gordon Hill to Moorgate as part of the Overground?
Yes. They would like to.
It feels like this one has been under some form of ‘feasibility study’ or ‘review’ for years! I do wonder how much money could be saved on what limited infrastructure projects we have if we found a way to cut out the years and years of studies and just got on with things such as this scheme which seems highly logical!
Quite – you only have to look at the feasibility studies et. al. conducted for the East London River Crossing that currently stand at something north of £250m. And generated so much paperwork that few people – if any – could read it.
How feasible would it be to extend Elizabeth line trains which terminate as old oak common? The original cross rail proposals looked at the Hounslow extension
It’ll be interesting to see what they plan for the level crossing on Bollo Lane in Chiswick. It sits right next to another level crossing for the London Overground North London Line.
As TFL-RAIL will go from Hendon to Hounslow in the future. Now why can’t they plan TFL-RAIL from Stevenage to Gatwick Airport in the future. Via Hertford North, Enfield Chase, Finsbury Park and East Croydon in the future?
Doesn’t Thameslink already cover this? Even so, there’s a bit of a difference between using disused track from north to west London and traversing a number of existing services between Herts and Sussex via London.
The Brighton Main Line is already heavily congested so which of the existing services would you dump to allow your proposal to go forward?
And that’s before you even get into the loss of seatign capacity from emlimiating a 12 carriage train to one with 4 or 5.
Wow Acton has so much already but this would be mega for my part of Acton if it linked to Old Oak Common.
OOC will need a lot of options to disperse people quickly, especially before Euston opens. I think many will get off GWML trains there too, when those platforms open (fast as well as Crossrail)
This (plus NLL – I’m assuming a shared station) will help a lot. What is less likely and more strategic, is the WLL link and crucially linking Clapham Junction to HS2.
But for now, great development. If I was crayoning a tiny bit more, I would extend around from Hounslow to Twickenham – which has platforms, lines and is another decent-sized centre served, + the stadium of course.
The other direction, maybe you could get to Staines/Windsor but better to keep within TfL zones. Shepparton line isn’t especially useful or important. Kingston maybe, if another shorter bay could be made.
A station on Lionel Road would be helpful for people going to Brentford for football games or other events in the stadium.
Doh
?? Kew Bridge station is actually next to the stadium already? It must be all of 10 metres away
Given the – inevitably delayed – renaming of the London Overground lines may I suggest it is called the Bee Line in homage to Brentford’s meteoric rise into the premier league and their huge success over the past three-and-a-half years?
“Make a Bee Line for Brentford”
How’s that for a slogan?
Would be useful to extend it to feltham station rather than just Hounslow. Millions of £££ have been spent already in feltham station so why not use it.
With the development of HS2/GWR/Elizabeth Line OOC station, this line is a no-brainer, as it orbits West/North West London and at the northern end of the route, it will link into the new Brent Cross West station, on the Midland services out of Euston.
The plan is to develop pockets of rundown land, along the route, which will also add to the line’s viability.
Why its going to take another decade is typical of our way of building; slow, slower and even slower, which gives those who are the hangers on, the chance to maximise the amount they get, before a spade hits the ground. £10 spend on talking, for every £1 spent building the blooming thing.