Crossrail 2

Crossrail 2 is a proposed rail route in South East England, running between Surrey and Hertfordshire providing a new rail link across London on the Crossrail network. It would connect the South Western Main Line to the West Anglia Main Line, via Victoria and, intended to alleviate severe overcrowding that would otherwise occur on commuter rail routes into Central London by the 2030s. The project was earlier known as the Chelsea–Hackney line (or Chelney line) in reference to a potential route. The plan for a line on this alignment has existed in various forms since 1970.

The line is the fourth major rail project in the capital since 2000, after the East London line extensions (opened May 2010, with the final section completed in December 2012), Thameslink Programme (opening 2018) and Crossrail (opening 2018). National Rail's projections of overcrowding including in less well-served suburbs and tourist destinations by tube led it to call for more new lines and cross-London line proposals have gained more importance with Euston being named as the terminus of the planned High Speed 2 rail line. High Speed 2's completion would bring an estimated 20,000 passengers onto the congested Northern and Victoria lines at Euston per day so if HS2 is approved, Transport for London (TfL) plan to change the safeguarded route for Chelsea-Hackney between Tottenham Court Road and King's Cross St Pancras so that the new line will serve Euston. On 28 June 2011, the Deputy Chair of Transport for London stated that such a new tube line running through Euston would be vital to disperse passengers arriving on High Speed 2. For the same reason, the line serving Euston is also supported by Network Rail's Route Utilisation Strategy (RUS) for London and the South East, published on 28 July 2011.

By including Euston, Crossrail 2 has a considerably improved business case. Due to the higher numbers entering the tube network at Euston as a result of HS2, an extra line would become a necessity to avoid high demand - exceeding present London waiting times - at Euston. The line may cost less than Crossrail 1 due to having fewer central London stations.

Current plans
In February 2013, the Crossrail taskforce of business group London First, chaired by former Secretary of State for Transport Andrew Adonis, published its recommendations on Crossrail 2, favouring a route almost identical to the regional option proposed by TfL in 2011. The report was endorsed by Network Rail.


 * Commencing at one of:
 * Twickenham (Waterloo to Reading Line)
 * Shepperton
 * (Hampton Court Branch Line)
 * Chessington South
 * Epsom (Sutton & Mole Valley Lines)
 * Takeover or shared use of the Shepperton Branch Line, Kingston Loop Line, Chessington Branch Line, Raynes Park - Epsom line and SWML slow lines
 * Portal and junction with SWML slow lines
 * District roundel1.PNG  (South Western Main Line)
 * Northern roundel1.PNG
 * Clapham Junction Overground notextroundel.svg (SWML, Brighton Main Line, Waterloo to Reading Line)
 * The only entirely new station on the line
 * Victoria roundel1.PNG Circle roundel1.PNG District roundel1.PNG (Brighton Main Line, Chatham Main Line)
 * Northern roundel1.PNG Central roundel1.PNG (Crossrail 1)
 * Euston Kings Cross St Pancras Victoria roundel1.PNG Northern roundel1.PNG Piccadilly roundel1.PNG Metropolitan roundel1.PNG Circle roundel1.PNG H&c roundel.PNG  (High Speed 1, High Speed 2, East Coast Main Line, Midland Main Line, West Coast Main Line, Thameslink) double-ended station serving all three mainline stations and the underground
 * Northern roundel1.PNG
 * splits into two branches:
 * Northern branch
 * Dalston Junction Overground notextroundel.svg
 * Victoria roundel1.PNG (Lea Valley Lines)
 * Piccadilly roundel1.PNG
 * Alexandra Palace (Thameslink, Northern City Line, Hertford Loop Line)
 * Northeastern branch
 * Hackney Central/Hackney Downs Overground notextroundel.svg (Lea Valley Lines)
 * Portal and junction with West Anglia Main Line/Lea Valley Lines
 * Victoria roundel1.PNG (West Anglia Main Line, Lea Valley Lines)
 * Creation of slow tracks to Broxbourne for Crossrail 2 services
 * Cheshunt (West Anglia Main Line, Lea Valley Lines)
 * Continues to Hertford East along takeover of Hertford East Branch Line

2008 safeguarded route
A route for the line was safeguarded (legally protected from conflicting development) in 2008. It linked the District line's Wimbledon branch with the Central line's Epping branch via, , , , , , , , Essex Road, Dalston Junction, Hackney Central, Homerton and. The safeguarding also includes a spur from Victoria under the Thames to Battersea Park for stabling and access to a tunnelling site. The safeguarded route is due to be reviewed by the Department for Transport in 2013 but was removed.

Northern and southern destinations
Network Rail's July 2011 RUS for London and the South East supports the existing safeguarded route but speculates about possible modifications in addition to re-routeing via Euston. To the south, it suggests that the tunnels should go from Victoria via Clapham Junction to beyond Wimbledon, instead of surfacing near Parsons Green and taking over the District line from there to Wimbledon. To the north, it suggests that the West Anglia corridor would be a better destination than a branch of the Central line. These suggestions are driven by what the RUS sees as the need for extra capacity on the South West Main Line and the West Anglia corridor.

2013 consultation
In May 2013, TfL began public consultation on two potential options:
 * Metro route: Wimbledon - Central London - Angel - Alexandra Palace (all underground)
 * Regional route: Twickenham/Surbiton/Epsom - Wimbledon - Central London - Angel - Alexandra Palace (underground) plus Angel - Cheshunt.

The results of the consultation were published on 29 November 2013 by TfL and revealed broad support for the Crossrail 2 plans. 96% of respondents supported or strongly supported the plans, whilst 2% opposed or strongly opposed them. The regional route had greater support than the metro route, with 84% of respondents supporting or strongly supporting the regional route versus 73% for the metro plans.

The greatest level of opposition to the principle of Crossrail 2 came from the residents of Kensington and Chelsea, the only area with greater than 5% of respondents (16%) who strongly opposed the scheme. Nearly 20% of respondents from this area either opposed or strongly opposed the scheme, views that did not exceed 10% in any other areas.

2014 consultation
In June 2014, a consultation on small modifications to the 2013 proposals started. Broadly the changes proposed fell into three areas, extending the Alexandra Palace branch to New Southgate, relocation or removal of the Chelsea station, and moving the point at which the two northern branches diverged to beyond either Dalston Junction or Hackney Downs station, calling at only one of these two stations.

History
A west/north-east tube line was originally planned as early as 1901 and a Bill was put before Parliament in 1904. However, political manoeuvring by rival tube magnate Charles Yerkes ended the proposal.

1970s
A west to north-east line was proposed in 1970 by the London Transport Board's London Rail Study as the next project after the completion of the Victoria line and the Fleet line (now the Jubilee line). Designed to relieve pressure on the District, Central and Victoria lines and to link two areas without tube services, the route would have taken over the branch of the District as far as, then followed a new underground alignment to , where it would then take over one of the branches of the Central line. For financial reasons the line was not built, but the idea has remained.

The proposal in the 1974 London Rail Study was:

Commencing at (take over or share the District line branch) continuing to (take over or share the Central line branch)
 * Millbank
 * (take over the former Piccadilly line shuttle to Holborn)
 * Shoreditch Church
 * Dalston Junction
 * Hackney Downs / Hackney Central
 * Hackney Wick
 * (take over the former Piccadilly line shuttle to Holborn)
 * Shoreditch Church
 * Dalston Junction
 * Hackney Downs / Hackney Central
 * Hackney Wick
 * Shoreditch Church
 * Dalston Junction
 * Hackney Downs / Hackney Central
 * Hackney Wick

1980s
Following the Central London Rail Study of 1989, a route through central London was safeguarded. This starts at, then: taking the Central line to. As the route would serve both King's Cross and King's Road it was suggested that it could be named Kings line. It was decided however that the Jubilee line Extension should take priority and the project was postponed.
 * Essex Road
 * Dalston Junction
 * Hackney Central
 * Homerton
 * Essex Road
 * Dalston Junction
 * Hackney Central
 * Homerton
 * Essex Road
 * Dalston Junction
 * Hackney Central
 * Homerton

1990s
In 1995, an alternative Express Metro plan was put forward that would utilise more existing track, have fewer stations and be built to National Rail standards. It would take one of three routes from on the District line to ; either,  and  or King's Road as in the original safeguarded plan; or to Wandsworth Town and Clapham Junction and then via Chelsea Harbour and King's Road or via Battersea.

From Victoria it would call at and then split into two branches, to and then on to  taking over the Central line; and taking over the North London Line to Woolwich, a route now followed by the Docklands Light Railway.
 * Dalston Kingsland
 * Hackney Central
 * Dalston Kingsland
 * Hackney Central
 * Hackney Central

The 1991 safeguarding also included a spur south of Victoria across the river to Battersea Park, for stabling trains and to access a riverside tunnelling site.

2000s
The London East West Study in 2000 considered Crossrail, the Chelsea–Hackney line and a combination of the two, from to  and then to. The Study supposes main-line gauge, and would omit a station at. Its version of the Chelsea-Hackney Regional Metro splits in the north, with one branch via Dalston taking over the branch of the Central line, the other to, then using the disused alignment of the Northern Heights plan, taking over the  branch of the Northern line. The Express Metro option would run on the East Coast Main Line.

In 2007 Crossrail was given the go-ahead over the Chelsea–Hackney line despite some commentators favouring the latter putting implementation after Crossrail's completion date of 2018. The Chelsea-Hackney plans were taken over by Crossrail as Crossrail 2.

In 2007, the 1991 route was updated – Sloane Square was dropped and the Central line's Epping branch from Leytonstone was re-safeguarded. Due to objections from residents of Sloane Square, it was reinstated the following year. Southwest Trains' Wimbledon depot was safeguarded as a depot for the line. The safeguarding was enlarged from tube gauge to Network Rail loading gauge as it became clear that larger and longer trains would be needed. Of the three routes proposed for south-west London the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea initially favoured one going south via Imperial Wharf to Clapham Junction, but now supports the takeover of the District line's Wimbledon branch. Under these present plans, only one entirely new station would be constructed, at Chelsea.

2010s
With the planned terminus of HS2 at Euston, Chelsea-Hackney was put back to the top of the agenda for new lines, diverted via Euston.

The London and South East second generation RUS by Network Rail proposed some changes to the safeguarded route: serving Clapham Junction rather than the branch of the District line, not serving, and serving  as well as. The RUS was also open to changes north of Hackney Central and branches south of Clapham Junction, both of which were seen as later phases.

TfL responded by releasing its preferred options - an automatic metro and a regional scheme:

Automatic Metro
 * Clapham Junction
 * Euston St. Pancras/King's Cross double-ended station serving all 3 main-line stations and and  tube stations
 * Essex Road
 * Dalston Junction
 * Hackney Central
 * Euston St. Pancras/King's Cross double-ended station serving all 3 main-line stations and and  tube stations
 * Essex Road
 * Dalston Junction
 * Hackney Central
 * Essex Road
 * Dalston Junction
 * Hackney Central

Regional Option Commencing at Twickenham, Shepperton,, Chessington South and Epsom (take over or share South West Trains routes)
 * Clapham Junction
 * Euston St. Pancras/King's Cross double-ended station serving all 3 main-line stations and and  tube station
 * splits into two branches
 * Dalston Junction                // *Hackney Downs / Hackney Central double-ended station
 * // *Cheshunt
 * Alexandra Palace Terminates // Continuing to Hertford East (take over or share the Great Eastern branch)
 * Euston St. Pancras/King's Cross double-ended station serving all 3 main-line stations and and  tube station
 * splits into two branches
 * Dalston Junction                // *Hackney Downs / Hackney Central double-ended station
 * // *Cheshunt
 * Alexandra Palace Terminates // Continuing to Hertford East (take over or share the Great Eastern branch)
 * Alexandra Palace Terminates // Continuing to Hertford East (take over or share the Great Eastern branch)

Both TfL routes signify a change of thinking at both ends of the route, with serving Clapham Junction more of a priority than relieving the District line, and relieving the Victoria line at its northern end more than the Central line. The regional option, as well as relieving the South West Main Line, seeks to relieve congested sections of the Northern line and Piccadilly line by removing passengers from the far ends of the lines.

On 5 February 2013, business group London First's Crossrail taskforce (chaired by former Secretary of State for Transport Andrew Adonis) published its recommendations on Crossrail 2, favouring a route almost identical to the regional option above. Later the same day, Network Rail endorsed the plans. Proposed changes from previous plans were:
 * Services west of Surbiton would go to Hampton Court instead of Woking
 * Chelsea station would be called "King's Road Chelsea"
 * The double-ended station "Euston King's Cross St Pancras" would serve King's Cross as well as Euston and St Pancras
 * would be served instead of
 * The other branch from Angel would serve Hackney, Tottenham Hale and Cheshunt.