Following a consultation in 2015, and the announcement last Autumn of a costs review, Crossrail 2 has been looking at some of the alternative options for the railway line.
Much of the latest review is to deal with complaints about various parts of the planned route, and could still see the railway, formerly known as the Chelsea-Hackney line end up without any stations in either Chelsea or Hackney.
At Wimbledon, following complaints about the scale of the demolition — of up to 60% of the main shopping centre — they’re reviewing the plans to reduce the impact on the town centre, and to cut back some of the sidings being planned.
Although the line planned a station at Tooting Broadway, and looked to have dropped that in favour of nearby Balham, due to cost and geology issues at Tooting Broadway, they are still looking at Tooting as a possible site. The station at Tooting Broadway is however currently estimated to be twice as expensive as one at Balham, and as the autumn review is looking at cost-savings, Balham may win out on cost grounds alone.
The disadvantage of Balham is that it already has mainline sized trains to central London on the national rail, so the cost-benefits of Crossrail 2 station here are weaker than at Tooting Broadway, where Crossrail 2 would have a much bigger impact in reducing overcrowding on the Northern line.
Another station in the firing line is the one planned at King’s Road Chelsea, which seems to have upset the rich locals. Crossrail 2 is still pondering scrapping the station in favour of a direct link between Clapham Junction and Victoria.
That has the advantage of avoiding placard-waving luvies, and saving a lot of money, albeit with less convenience for an area quite weak in rail connections. One alternative that has been occasionally suggested is to run the line close to Battersea Power Station for a link with the Northern line extension, although that then doesn’t save any money.
Elsewhere, Crossrail 2 has worked on plans to improve the interchanges at Victoria and Euston stations. However, they’ve been unable — so far — to find alternative locations for the new entrances needed at Tottenham Court Road, so the Curzon Cinema is still threatened with demolition.
They are still pondering options for the route north of central London, which could either go via Wood Green, or Alexandra Palace.
And south of London, a number of level crossings would need to be permanently closed, as the number of trains using the line would render them effectively redundant anyway. That calls for replacement crossings, via underpasses or bridges to be built at various locations.
Going forward, Crossrail 2 aims to conduct a further route-wide public consultation on the latest proposals following the outcome of the Independent Affordability Review.
The review will submit an interim report to the DfT and TfL this summer, outlining options as to how the project could be made more affordable. A more detailed final report will be submitted at a later date in light of the recommendations made in the interim report.
The Kings Road station has no economic benefit and does not meet Crossrail objectives. There would be no additional housing as a result unless social housing was redeveloped and “intensified” to use London Plan jargon. Given its position in conservation areas there is no space for commercial development above the station which is not already planned.
As for the transport case, the site is in a 6b ptal location within 800 metres of 3 tube lines and 2 tube stations, if this is poor rail connections then most of London is in this position.
Do you really advocate spending £1.5bn to inflate property prices in Chelsea, surely there are better cost benefit opportunities for infrastructure?
Finally the opposition came from residents and small businesses, the Press like celebrities for stories, that is the way the world is. The public consultation had a 95% opposition to the station, if Consultation is a valid process then the station should be abandoned for a direct route and a saving of at least £1.5bn.
There was also this protest song – if I was in charge I’d definitely build a station there as a fair exchange for ‘NIMBY the musical’.
I agree 200%
If this is new news, where/what is the source?
Can they move the Chelsea station to where the World’s End estate is, so the immediate area can be redeveloped?
There are lots of normal people in Chelsea too don’t ya know? It’s just that we’re not press-worthily famous,luvvies or stupidly rich, so we live quietly cheek by jowl with our stereotyped neighbours firmly below the radar thank goodness.
Progress is progress and I’m no fan of knocking things down but I’d welcome a Crossrail connection halfway down the King’s Road. How short-sighted would we be when one is deemed necessary in ten year’s time say?
Then you need to go out there and make your voice heard.
I still don’t understand why they are choosing the main Lea Valley line to Cheshunt (via Tottenham Hale) at the north end of CR2 instead of the recently Overground-ised branch lines: Enfield town, Cheshunt via Seven Sisters & Chingford (north of Dalston/Hackney that is). The main line could serve the existing stations south of Hackney Downs, as the line north would need to be quadrupled for CR2 north otherwise (albeit one track is already on the way up to Meridian Water/Angel Road).
This would give 4 branches at the north end, as lately we’ve seen in the south end of the line, equalising the two ends.
Given that the NIC states that the New Southgate Branch is unviable, this branch, the Lea Valley Line will be the only northern branch. It will be viable at high frequency to at least Angel Road. The branch can split here with one branch to Broxbourne and a second going from Angel Road to Enfield Town via the dismallntled railway line from Angel Road to Edmonton Green. At Edmonton Green, maybe 10,000 homes can be built alongside a new town centre.
With frequencies to Cheshunt via Southbury boosted as a result, the 100 hectare site at Southbury can be built out.
Also, Harlow are desperate for the line, which could terminate at Harlow Mill, and it would be sensible to send 6tph to Hertford East.
With the loss of the interchange at Seven Sisters, Crossrail2 should stop at Stoke Newington for interchange from Hackney and Tottenham.
In the south, Woking should be served, as recommended by Surrey County Council.
All of this would cost less than the £4bn cost of the New Southgate Branch, delivering a lot more. TfL will however opt for their existing scheme and likely get no yielding from the DfT
Could not agree more. I never understood the rationale of stations at both Tottenham Hale and Seven Sisters. Stamford Hill or Stoke Newington would also offer interchange from the Enfield branch line but be easier to build, provide a poorly served (and very densely populated area) with a metro service, and offer connection to a large number of bus routes. It seems a missed opportunity and the residents of Hackney should be more annoyed that the ‘Chelsea – Hackney’ line will now neither!
I wonder if the metro scheme might be back on the table? At half the cost and a probably shorter time to operation that must seem attractive now.
Personally, I would opt for a linear metro service from Harlow Mill to Woking, with a branch to Enfield Town via Edmonton Green in the north, and then Hampton Court in the south.
Future extensions to Basingstoke in the south and Stansted in the north if demand allows.
This line is needed because the linear, efficient, connected Victoria Line is effective and popular and as a result overcrowded, so why not repeat that model with Crossrail 2?
A Crossrail 2 station at Kings Road is very much needed!
– traffic at kings road is a chaos and it is impossible to through with the bus, it takes ages.
– it will be much easier for the staff and clients of the shops to go to Kings Road area
– London is getting more and more crowded
-the residents of Kensington and Chelsea will benefit from better connections to other areas
– I am not aware of any precedents where a new tube station caused any negativity for an area once the station was built and operating
I think that the Crossrail 2 line via Tooting Broadway and Turnpike Lane is a better option. As Im already getting the idea in my head.
Balham over Tooting Broadway.
You just have to see the crush of people changing from the train to the tube – especially in the morning to know that that is where the northern line needs relieving.its the reason when I did live in Balham that I got the train rather than the tube to London Bridge even though it took twice the time it meant I saw daylight and got a seat.
And those people getting off the mainline trains just make room for the masses getting on at Balham
Diverting some of those passengers to CR2 eases pressure on the Northern line which then improves the journeys of those boarding at Tooting Broadway and all stations south of it.
Can anyone give any information regarding the line to Chessington South? Will there be 4 trains an hour and where will it go to? Waterloo or Victoria please?
I’d wait about 15 years for an informed answer on this. TfL hasn’t yet determined how many trains per hour will serve Acton Main Line (Crossrail 1j. It will probably be four but could be six, as I learnt from a presentation by Crossrail’s Community Relations Manager last week in Ealing.
The consultation said 4 to Chessington. These would all be CR2 services, ie the Waterloo service would be withdrawn.
Chelsea station in Kings Road is vital to reduce ROAD traffic and therefore pollution. Many people in Chelsea will soon get to Love the Cross rail. Perhaps name Kings Line would help
Hi.
Is there a date when a final decision will be made on if Crossrail 2 will be in Balham or Tooting Broadway?
My guess is that CR2 won’t ever be built in the form suggested: it’s not going to solve London’s north-south travel problems, it’s unaffordable and there won’t be sufficient regeneration or development benefits.
The only reason the CR2 scheme exists at all is because the planners had that reserved route for Chelsea-Hackney and thought it would be a good idea to stick on some random appendages to it, regardless of where people actually want to make those journeys. The core plan goes back to the 1940s when businessmen and their clerks worked in the City and their wives went to the West End to go shopping and see the latest film. Docklands was full of ships, out-of-town shopping centres didn’t exist, and the few people who flew did so from Croydon, not Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted or City.
TfL’s planners haven’t tried to find out where people’s ‘desire lines’ are. Before putting pen to paper they should have asked London’s residents, workers and visitors: where are you now and where do you want/need to get to? Then: how easy is it for you to reach that destination? For example, there’s surely a growing need for people in south and SW London to get direct to Docklands and the Thames Estuary development corridor. Or what about getting from south and SE London to Heathrow.
And what about CR2’s value in wider social and economic terms? Are Wimbledon and Chelsea worthy recipients of a regeneration boost? Does Chessington South need four trains an hour? How does CR2 help relieve overcrowding in Zone 1 when it’s going to pump yet more people into Zone 1? Will this wriggling worm of a line speed up anyone’s journey? Do we really want to spend £30+ billion on a scheme that mostly just duplicates existing lines?
This is an ill-thought-out scheme from the last century that should have been dumped years ago. We need new research and bolder thinking.
As for Balham (my home station) versus Tooting Bec, I’d just say that Balham is a massively overtaxed rail-bus-tube interchange, whereas Tooting Broadway is only a bus-tube interchange, and Balham would merely lose a supermarket whereas Tooting would lose the irreplaceable and thriving Tooting Market. But Mayor Khan is a Tooting boy so he’s backing the less sensible option.