History of the Crossrail line

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.

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]

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]

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 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]