What is Crossrail | Recent
developments | Government announcment and
funding details | The City's position
What is Crossrail?
Crossrail will be a new railway under central London linking
Maidenhead in the west with Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.
There will also be a line to Heathrow, meaning the City will have a
direct rail connection to the airport for the first time. The City
of London believes that an east-west link across London is
essential for London’s competitiveness and is long overdue.
Crossrail will help to alleviate the current congestion on London’s
rail network and provide extra capacity to meet the anticipated
growth in employment and London’s population. It is anticipated
that the first trains will run on the railway in 2017 and the full
service will be built up over the following 12 months. When
complete, the railway will operate 24 trains per hour in each
direction through Central London during peak times.
View maps of the route here. Details of the
specific route alignment in the City of London can be found in the
Crossrail
Context Report.
The project is being promoted by Crossrail Ltd (CRL) which was a
50/50 joint venture company between Transport for London (TfL) and
the Department for Transport (DfT) until 5 December 2008 when it
became a fully owned subsidiary of TfL.
The main Crossrail website contains an overview of the
Bill process, details of the construction phase and other useful
information.
If you have any City-specific comments regarding Crossrail,
please email us at
crossrail@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Recent developments
The Crossrail Act received Royal Assent in July 2008. This
legislation provides for the construction, maintenance and
operation of the railway.
The full Act can be viewed online here.
A Crossrail Context Report for the City of London was published
in January 2009. This document provides an overview of the works
that will take place in the City of London to facilitate the
construction of Crossrail.
This document can be downloaded from the Crossrail
website.
The Crossrail Act gives the nominated undertaker overall
planning permission for the project, but Schedule 7 of the Act
requires certain detailed elements of both permanent works and
construction arrangements to be approved by the local authority.
The local authority can subsequently approve, refuse or impose
conditions on an application.
To date, the City of London has received ‘Schedule 7’
applications from Crossrail in respect of the following:
- Road transport arrangements (lorry routes) for the Crossrail
project area within the City of London
- Advance works (including demolition) for the Liverpool Street
station
- Advance works (including demolition) for the Farringdon eastern
ticket hall, located on Lindsey Street
Crossrail have also recently commenced investigative works at
various sites within the vicinity of the new station at Liverpool
Street, in the form of bore holes and trial trenches. It is
expected that these preliminary works will continue at various
locations until August 2009. The City of London is working closely
with Crossrail to ensure that these works cause as little
disruption as possible, with the majority of works taking place at
weekends.
Construction has begun at Canary Wharf station and initial work
is due to commence at Tottenham Court Road, Paddington and
Farringdon during 2009. The main construction works for Crossrail
in the City are expected to commence in 2011 and will involve
construction of the new railway tunnels and new Crossrail stations
at Farringdon and Liverpool Street. The City of London is currently
working with Crossrail to establish appropriate mitigation measures
to minimise the impact of construction activity on local residents
and business. A communications strategy is also being developed to
keep City residents and businesses informed of how the works are
likely to affect them during the construction phase of the
project.
Government announcement and
funding details
A deal that will help deliver Crossrail on time and on budget
was finalised by Andrew Adonis, Transport Minister, Boris Johnson,
Mayor of London and Sir Michael Snyder of the City of London
Corporation on 4 December 2008.
The City of London Corporation has agreed to make a direct
contribution of £200m to the Crossrail project. In addition, the
City Corporation will seek contributions from businesses of £150m,
and has guaranteed the first £50m of these contributions.
This confirms the City’s full support for Crossrail and is the
latest in a series of milestones for the project, including the
announcement of a £230m funding contribution from BAA.
As Europe’s largest construction project, the delivery of
Crossrail will provide a boost of at least £20 billion to the UK
economy as well as generating an extra 30,000 jobs. It will also
help secure London’s position as a world leading financial centre
by delivering a 10% increase to the capital’s rail capacity when it
opens in 2017.
Transport Minister Andrew Adonis said:
- "This is a landmark moment in the delivery of Crossrail, and
once again signals the commitment of businesses to this vital
project. It is a hugely important scheme that will be crucial in
keeping London and the rest of the country globally
competitive.
- "Crossrail will bring 1.5 million people within 60 minutes’
commute of London’s major financial districts, as well as
delivering a much needed boost to rail capacity to and from
Heathrow Airport. Its construction and operation will also create
thousands of new jobs, at a time when they are much
needed."
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said:
- "Today is an important moment for London as Crossrail, the
largest addition to the transport network in the South East for 50
years, will now move forward full speed ahead. This is a crucial
milestone and, with funding committed and agreements in place, the
pace of delivery will now quicken - with Crossrail transferring to
TfL tomorrow, work at Tottenham Court Road beginning in the spring,
and delivery partner companies being appointed early next
year.
"Crossrail is vital to London and the UK, providing an enormous
boost to the economy and, in the tough economic times ahead,
creating thousands of jobs linked to its construction. Crossrail
has been a dream for many years, and these agreements now give the
project the momentum that will make it become a reality"
Sir Michael Snyder of the City of London Corporation added:
- "Crossrail is critical to the future of London’s economy and it
is essential that we continue to make major improvements to our
transport infrastructure during these challenging times. Crossrail
is absolutely crucial in keeping London and the UK globally
competitive and for this reason we are delighted to support the
funding of this vitally important new railway."
The City’s position
The City of London has long been a supporter of Crossrail and
welcomes the recent commencement of construction. Employment in the
Square Mile is predicted to increase from current levels
(approximately 340,000) to well over 400,000 by the time the
railway is due to begin operation. Therefore, Crossrail will
provide a timely boost to capacity on London’s rail network.
However, although the City of London is strongly supportive of
the project, there has been concern over the detail of some
aspects. The City of London appeared before the Select Committee
during the debating stages, and as a result of these discussions,
the proposal for the Barbican has been substantially improved.
There is no longer a need for a shaft in Aldersgate Street, nor is
it necessary to have a site to prepare concrete in that
location.
Another welcome improvement to the original proposal is that the
Crossrail have been instructed to enlarge the gate line in the
Liverpool Street station ticket hall and to add an additional
ticket hall on the north side of Liverpool Street. This extra
passenger space and station capacity will ensure that the station
is constructed from the outset to a design that meets future
forecasts of passenger traffic and also has the room for expected
medium term growth. This is especially important considering the
expected high density commercial property developments already
given permission in the eastern cluster in the City.
There are still, however, several outstanding issues that the
City of London wishes to see addressed, including:
- Ensuring that the construction of the new Canary Wharf station
does not affect the nearby Billingsgate Market. The eventual
successful contractors for construction will be obliged to ensure
the market building itself remains uncompromised during tunnelling
works and arrangements for alternative parking provisions will need
to be resolved.
- Ensuring that Crossrail serves the new Terminal 5 station at
Heathrow, as this is likely to become the busiest terminal in the
future. The extension of Crossrail to Reading would also appear to
be a worthwhile objective now that Network Rail has approval to
proceed with upgrading track capacity at this important
station.
- As part of the Greater London Authority / Transport for London
funding of Crossrail, £300m will be raised by developer
contributions. The Mayor of London has commenced consultation with
stakeholders on an amendment to the Mayor’s London Plan planning
framework which will enable this funding stream to be realised.
There is concern that a tariff at this level in the current
economic climate could distort London’s office market unduly,
jeopardise the vibrancy of the central London business cluster, and
delay the economic recovery. The City has therefore asked the Mayor
to lower the tariff payable by applying it to a wider range of land
uses, applying it to a wider area than central London, and being
more flexible over the payment arrangements and period.
June 2009