Last summer we reported on a consultation exercise relating to the route of the planned Crossrail 2 rail link between North London/Hertfordshire and South West London. Subsequently TfL engineers have come up with a modified scheme, based on last year's "Regional Option", and are consulting again, but only in relation to the proposed changes.
The changes to the earlier proposal comprise new options for stations in the Chelsea area and in Hackney and Dalston, but of most interest to readers of this website will be the proposal to extend the Turnpike Lane/Alexandra Palace branch of the line as far as New Southgate in a newly bored tunnel.
The relevant part of the consultation document is reproduced below.
Alexandra Palace to New Southgate
One of the branches we consulted on in 2013 proposed trains terminating at Alexandra Palace. However, many stakeholders suggested that Crossrail 2 should be extended further north to provide additional interchange opportunities at New Southgate. An option has therefore been identified to extend the service to New Southgate, which would be at no additional cost, given the savings identified through opportunities to use existing railway land for Crossrail 2 trains.
This extension would mean that the Alexandra Palace Crossrail 2 station becomes an underground station, rather than a station above ground, as proposed in 2013. The indicative map below shows the branch of Crossrail 2 continuing to New Southgate.
An extension to New Southgate would:
An extension to New Southgate is likely to impact on the parking area and open yard to the rear of the light industrial units to the northern end of the North Circular Road.
|
Journey |
Current journey time |
Predicted journey time |
|
New Southgate – Euston |
24 minutes |
17 minutes |
|
New Southgate – Victoria |
30 minutes |
21 minutes |
Source: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/crossrail/june-2014/
The expected opening date for the new link has been brought forward to 2029, but if you wish to comment on these proposed changes, the deadline is rather sooner - 25 July 2014. To read the proposals in full, visit the consultations section of the TfL website.
