History of the Crossrail line

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 the central section is scheduled to open in 2020 or 2021.

This article is about the history of Crossrail prior to construction starting. For the construction of Crossrail, see Crossrail § Construction.

Early proposals
Crossrail timeline
DateEvent
1941–48First proposals for cross-London railway tunnels put forward by George Dow
1974London Rail Study Report recommends a Paddington–Liverpool Street "Crossrail" tunnel
1989Central London Rail Study proposes three Crossrail schemes, including an east–west Paddington/Marylebone–Liverpool Street route
1991Private bill promoted by London Underground and British Rail submitted to Parliament proposing a Paddington–Liverpool Street tunnel; it is rejected in 1994
2001Crossrail scheme promoted through Cross London Rail Links (CLRL)
2004Senior railway managers promote an expanded regional Superlink scheme
2005Crossrail Bill put before Parliament
2008Crossrail Act 2008 receives royal assent
2009Construction work begins at Canary Wharf
2015Liverpool Street–Shenfield service transferred to TfL Rail
2017New Crossrail trains introduced on Liverpool Street–Shenfield route
2018Paddington–Heathrow services transfer to TfL Rail.
2020/2021Full Elizabeth line route opens
2026Possible opening of new station at Old Oak Common

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 re-opening 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: £300 million. 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] 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 £885 million.[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 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 50 days of exhibitions were held to explain the proposals at over 30 different locations.[12]

Main article: Superlink

A more ambitious proposal named "Superlink" was proposed in 2004, at an estimated cost of £13 billion, 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]

The proposal was rejected by Crossrail,[14] and failed to receive the backing of the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, or the DfT.[15]

Approval

The Crossrail Bill 2005, a hybrid bill, went through Parliament. The Crossrail Bill Select Committee met between December 2005 and October 2007.[16] 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 Secretary Ruth 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.[17]

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.[18][19] It is accompanied by an environmental impact statement, plans and other related information.[20] The Act gives CLRL the powers necessary to build the line. In November 2008, while announcing an agreement for a £230 million contribution from BAA, Transport Minister Andrew Adonis confirmed that funding was still in place despite the global economic downturn.[21] 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 £15.9 billion, 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.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Mayor of London Boris Johnson attended a ceremony at Canary Wharf on 15 May 2009 when construction started.[22] On 7 September 2009 the project received £1 billion in funding. The money was lent to TfL by the European Investment Bank.[23]

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.[24] The original planned schedule was that the first trains would run in 2017. In 2010 a Comprehensive Spending Review identified savings of over £1 billion 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.[25]

Ladbroke Grove plans
Ladbroke Grove Underground station[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[27][28] 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.[29][30][31] Former Mayor Boris 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 £33 million cost,[32] and a consultancy study that then concluded a Kensal station would not compromise Crossrail.

TfL conducted a feasibility study on the station,[33] and the project was supported by local MPs and residents, the National Grid, and some retailers.[34] It was also supported by the adjoining London Borough of Brent.[35] 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.[36]

The plans were briefly resurrected by former Mayor Boris Johnson in 2016[37][38] but not by incoming Mayor Sadiq Khan.[39]

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References
  1. Dow, Andrew (2005). Telling the Passenger Where to Get Off. London: Capital Transport. pp. 52–55. ISBN 9781854142917.
  2. Jackson, Alan A.; Croome, Desmond F. (1962). Rails Through The Clay. London: Allen & Unwin. pp. 309–312. OCLC 55438.
  3. London Rail Study Report Part 2, pub. GLC/DoE 1974, page 87–88
  4. London Rail Study Part 2, Fig. 15.7
  5. Young, John (29 November 1974). "Investment of £1,390m in London rail urged". The Times. London. p. 4.
  6. "Safeguarding". Crossrail. n.d. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
  7. 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.
  8. "Crossrail Bill". 1991.
  9. "Crossrail". Hansard. 20 June 1994.
  10. "Select Committee on the Crossrail Bill : 1st Special Report of Session 2007–08: Crossrail Bill" (PDF). 1: Report. House of Lords. Chapter 1: Introduction: The History of Crossrail, page 8. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. "Sponsors and Partners". Crossrail. 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
  12. "History of Crossrail". Crossrail. n.d. Archived from the original on 2 June 2009.
  13. Sources:
  14. Department for Transport (2007). Further Responses to the Government's Consultation on the Crossrail Bill Environmental Statement. p. 35. ISBN 9780101724920. (quoted from CLRL response, section 3.74) Following a careful review of the Superlink proposal, CLRL concluded that it was not a feasible option and did not merit further analysis.
  15. Clement, Barrie (16 December 2004). "Crossrail will fail, say backers of rival plan". The Independent.
  16. "Crossrail Bill Select Committee". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 29 September 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  17. "SAFEGUARDING DIRECTIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT AFFECTING THE ROUTE AND ASSOCIATED WORKS PROPOSED FOR THE CROSSRAIL PROJECT – MAIDENHEAD TO OLD OAK COMMON, OLD OAK COMMON TO ABBEY WOOD, STRATFORD TO SHENFIELD AND WORKS AT WEST HAM, PITSEA AND CLACTON-ON-SEA" (PDF). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  18. "Crossrail Bill 2005". Crossrail. Archived from the original on 3 August 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  19. "Soho shops make way for Crossrail". BBC News. 13 November 2009.
  20. "Orders of the Day – Crossrail Bill". TheyWorkForYou.com. 19 July 2005. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
  21. "Crossrail gets £230m BAA funding". BBC News. 4 November 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2010.
  22. Hill, Dave (15 May 2009). "Work on London's £16bn Crossrail scheme begins". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  23. "Crossrail project gets £1bn loan". BBC News. 7 September 2009.
  24. "New coalition government makes Crossrail pledge". BBC News. 15 April 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  25. "Mayor secures vital London transport investment and protects frontline services" (Press release). Transport for London. 20 October 2010. Archived from the original on 17 August 2012.
  26. "Google Maps". Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  27. "Portobello Crossrail station the missing link in renaissance of Portobello Road" (Press release). Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 11 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  28. "Supporting Kensal Crossrail". Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. n.d. Archived from the original on 15 May 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  29. "Case for a Crossrail station gains momentum" (Press release). Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 1 July 2010.
  30. Bloomfield, Ruth (24 August 2010). "Study to explore adding Crossrail station at Kensal Rise". Building Design.
  31. "Crossrail at Kensal Rise back on the cards?". London Reconnections (blog). 27 August 2010.
  32. "Council to pay for Crossrail station". London Evening Standard. 25 March 2011. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012.
  33. "Case Closes on Crossrail at Kensal – London Reconnections". Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  34. Kensal Crossrail station would 'transform' the area, says deputy mayor. Regeneration + Renewal. 16 May 2011.
  35. "Brent backs plans for Kensal Crossrail" (Press release). Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 27 September 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  36. "NO CROSSRAIL FOR KENSAL". Kensington Labour Party. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  37. Cooper, Goolistan (14 March 2016). "Plans for Ladbroke Grove Crossrail station resurrected by Boris". Archived from the original on 31 July 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  38. "Crossrail might get an extra station". 14 March 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
  39. "DELIVERING YOUR MANIFESTO" (PDF). Retrieved 27 May 2016.
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