London is in desperate need of a second crossrail route linking the south-west of the city with the north-east. That's according to business lobby group London First which has been analysing the business case for such a scheme over the last six months.
The group, who represent London's leading employers, commissioned a study led by former Transport Secretary Lord Adonis into why a new route should be built. It concludes that within the next 20 years, after the completion of Crossrail 1, Thameslink and the Tube upgrades, central, south-west and north-east London's rail and underground networks will be heavily congested and the need for new capacity will be critical.
It predicts an extra 1.3 million people will be living in the capital by the late 2020s and in order to cope with this increase planning for the next generation of transport improvements needs to begin now. Lord Adonis goes on to say that "infrastructure schemes have a lengthy planning cycle and we need to start planning for Crossrail 2 now. We must not repeat the mistakes of Crossrail 1 and spend 40 years planning and generating support for a scheme needed within 20 years".
There are currently two schemes up for consideration - a £10 billion route from Clapham Junction to Seven Sisters and a £15 billion scheme which would link Wimbledon in the south to Tottenham Hale in the north. The merits of both of these are due to be debated by Transport for London next year.
With the British economy still stagnant and the current government's obsession with austerity, it is unlikely that there will be any funding commitments to this scheme for a considerable amount of time. It is likely the government will want the private sector to bankroll most of the cost of any future crossrail line.
The map below show the proposed route of the £10 billion Clapham Junction to Seven Sisters route.
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